page_title: Monarch Airlines
section_title: 2000s
hierarchical_section_title: Monarch Airlines / History / 2000s
caption_attribution_description: English: Monarch Airlines Airbus A321-200 (G-OZBU) takes off at Manchester Airport, England.
context_page_description: Monarch Airlines, also known as Monarch, was a British charter and scheduled airline founded by Bill Hodgson and Don Peacock and financed by the Swiss Sergio Mantegazza family. The company later became a low-cost airline in 2004 before abandoning charter flying completely. The airline's headquarters were at Luton, and it had operating bases at Birmingham, Leeds/Bradford, Gatwick and Manchester.
  When Monarch entered administration in 2017, it was the biggest airline collapse in UK history up to that point, leaving nearly 100,000 passengers and holidaymakers stranded. However, on 23 September 2019, Thomas Cook experienced an even bigger collapse, leaving 150,000 people stranded. The airline held a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence. This license allowed Monarch to carry passengers, cargo, and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.
context_section_description: During 2002, Monarch retired the sole McDonnell Douglas DC-10 from service and donated it to the Manchester Airport Aviation Viewing Park. That same year, Monarch also unveiled a brand-new livery – the airline's fourth. Also, the company rebranded its Monarch Crown Service scheduled division as Monarch Scheduled. Monarch Scheduled continued to offer a full-service product, including free catering, bar service, hot towels, newspapers and in-flight entertainment (IFE).
  During 2003, Monarch Scheduled announced that it would open a new base at Gatwick Airport. On 1 May 2003, this base opened, initially offering services to Alicante, Faro and Málaga. On 15 December 2004, Monarch Scheduled announced that it would open a new base at Birmingham Airport. The station opened in April 2005 with new routes to Málaga and Tenerife.
  In 2004, following the success of the low-fares, no-frills airlines such as easyJet, Monarch decided to adopt a modified low-cost model, featuring additional charges for food and drink. In 2005 (until 2010), Monarch leased a Boeing 767-300ER from MyTravel Airways (which then became Thomas Cook Airlines) to expand its long-haul fleet.
  During November 2005, Monarch opened a base in Málaga. The airline based one Airbus A320 aircraft there. Monarch launched three scheduled services from Málaga to Aberdeen, Blackpool and Newquay. The Málaga-Newquay route was discontinued on 30 April 2006. About a year later, Monarch retired the Málaga-Blackpool service due to low demand. On 27 October 2007, the airliner withdrew the Málaga-Aberdeen route as well, resulting in the closure of Monarch's Málaga base.
  To operate scheduled services from Manchester, an Airbus A321 was acquired. Monarch became the airport's second-largest passenger airline in 2005 with 1.72m passengers using its services from/to the airport. Monarch's total passenger numbers increased from 4.55m in 2002 to 6.5m in 2008.
  In August 2006, Monarch ordered six Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner widebodied jets, primarily for use on long-haul routes. Delivery was planned to start in 2010; however, delays to the 787 project pushed back delivery to 2013, and in September 2011, the airline announced the cancellation of the order, citing its strategic decision to concentrate on its short-/medium-haul operations.
  On 27 April 2007, Monarch Airlines started flights to Ibiza partnered with club brand HedKandi, naming the partnership "FlyKandi". One of Monarch's Boeing 757s (G-MOND) received a special FlyKandi livery with billboard FlyKandi titles and a special tail motif. The HedKandi partnership lasted for the 2007 summer season, with flights to Ibiza sold from four major UK airports. It was then renewed for the 2008 summer season, offering the same services. This time FlyKandi livery was applied to G-MONJ. HedKandi CDs and radio stations were available for purchase and to listen to onboard Monarch aircraft.
  In October 2007, Monarch became the first airline in Europe to accept PayPal as a flight payment option on its website.
  During 2008, Monarch changed the name of its website from flymonarch.com to monarch.co.uk. It also changed its advertising slogan to "The Low Fare Airline That Cares".
  During 2008, Monarch provided the aircraft, an Airbus A321, to launch the ITV2 television programme CelebAir. Celebrities were trained and took on duties performed by airline staff, such as cabin crew. The destinations to which CelebAir flew were mainly Monarch's scheduled destinations, including Málaga, Alicante, Tenerife, Faro, Ibiza, Mahón and Larnaca. These flights carried fare-paying passengers. The programme first aired on 2 September 2008. The programme has now finished with Lisa Maffia winning the series, Amy Lamé finishing second and Chico Slimani finishing third.
caption: Airbus A321-200, (G-OZBU) in the 2009 livery, taking off from Manchester Airport
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D50", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Paint Shop Pro Photo 11.20", "Image DateTime": "2009:09:22 19:08:08", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "242", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "300", "Thumbnail YResolution": "300", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "998", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "17880", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1000", "EXIF FNumber": "8", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:09:12 10:17:27", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:09:12 10:17:27", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "1", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "200", "EXIF SubSecTime": "70", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "70", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "70", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1515", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1086", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "856", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 2, 1, 1, 0]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "300", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}