Monarch A300 farewell flight 2014

[cHabu]

Dear Enthusiast,

I'm sure you are already very much aware, that Monarch Airlines will be retiring our A300-605R fleet in early 2014. The aircraft came in to service with Monarch in 1990, was our first widebody aircraft, and has served both the airline and the travelling public for well over two decades.

Monarch are the last European passenger operator of Airbus™ first entry in to the commercial airline sector. The aircraft's retirement in April 2014 will be a sad occasion at Monarch as we wave goodbye to an aircraft that has flown in our colours for longer than most of our crews have. It will also mark a turning point for the company, as we re-fleet and introduce more modern aircraft.

To mark the occasion of the aircraft's retirement from service, Monarch are considering our options with regards a farewell flight which we would open up to Enthusiasts, with the intention of hosting a VIP reception in Monarch Aircraft Engineering Ltd™s new Birmingham hangar, a milestone achievement for our sister company.

The proposed event would feature a short flight, departing from and arriving back in to Birmingham International Airport (BHX), hopefully with passengers disembarking directly in to the new, three-bay hangar for a farewell celebration.

I must stress that no event is confirmed, and at this stage, I have been tasked simply with gauging the interest of the Enthusiast Community in attending this proposed event. If you would be interested in attending our Birmingham-based event in very late March, or very early April 2014, I would love to hear back from you with an idea on the numbers that you may be attending with. An idea on pricing would follow in due course, if the event is confirmed and we have finalised all of the appropriate arrangements.

I look forward to your responses, and thank you for your patience while we try to get something arranged. If you have friends that may be interested in the event, but may not be on my mailing list, I would appreciate you forwarding this e-mail to them, or sharing the proposal on any aviation forums you may use.

Please can you send all responses to enthusiastdays@monarch.co.uk ?

Thank you for your time.

Kind Regards

Toby Hillier
Monarch Airlines

[cHabu]

Dear Enthusiast,



Thank you for your patience. Details of Monarch’s A300 Enthusiast flight will be released by the middle of this week, with a planned on-sale date of Friday 20th December. I apologise for the delay in getting information to you.



Please hold any specific enquiries until after details of the event have been released.



Thank you very much,



Kind Regards



Toby

Monarch Airlines

www.monarch.co.uk

[Robin]

I understood that Monarch has a big Airbus order to be announced shortly!!!!!!!!

[cHabu]

Dear Enthusiasts,



Thank you very much for your patience in waiting for information regarding a farewell flight on the Monarch Airlines A300.
Please see the foot of this e-mail for booking instructions, and the attached document for full details of the event.



Monarch Airlines have taken the decision to keep the Airbus A300 in service until Sunday 13th April 2014, two weeks longer than originally planned. As a result of this, a Birmingham – Birmingham sightseeing flight,
or even a series of sightseeing flights will not be possible due to the tight timescales in preparing the aircraft for its departure to the United States.



The decision has been taken to offer seats for sale on a flight from London’s Gatwick Airport to Birmingham International Airport on Sunday 13th April 2014. This will be the very last commercial service operated by a Monarch Airlines Airbus A300-605R.
Every seat will be available for purchase on this flight, meaning close to 350 enthusiasts arriving at Birmingham at one time. As a result, the decision has been taken that a hangar tour cannot be accommodated for such a large number of visitors, especially on a Sunday.



The flight is currently scheduled for 1 hour in duration, but we are currently investigating opportunities to extend this to as long as 2hrs either with additional air time, or a touch and go at another airport, at no extra cost to you.
Additionally, we are looking in to adding more content to the flight to provide further value for money to you. If and when we are able to confirm this, we will let those that have booked a seat know, via e-mail.



While we acknowledge that you will be arriving in to a different airport than you depart from, Monarch Airlines cannot accept responsibility for returning you to London Gatwick. You will need to make your own travel arrangements.
Both Gatwick Airport, and Birmingham Airport are well served by both rail and coach services.



Booking information

BOOKINGS WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE UNTIL 9AM (GMT) TOMORROW, FRIDAY 20th DECEMBER 2013



Booking will be possible by either of the following mediums;


Monarch Airlines website:

Please click on the link below to take you to the booking page. If you have any problems at all, please try entering the route London Gatwick > Birmingham and type in the date manually as follows – 13.04.2014. This should then allow you to book.



http://bookflights.monarch.co.uk/Search ... ture=en-GB



Due to the unusual nature of this operation, we have had to make special changes to the website booking processes in order to allow online bookings for this flight. Please be patient with the website.



Monarch Airlines call centre:

If you have any trouble with the website, or would prefer not to use it, bookings can be made via the Monarch Airlines call centre. You will be charged for these calls. The telephone numbers are shown below;

If calling from the UK: 08719 40 50 40

If calling from Overseas: 0044 8719 40 50 40



For those of you booking via the call centre, I have created a basic seat map for you to have a look at that may help you choose which seats you are looking for, please see the attached excel document.



If you have any questions or queries regarding booking seats on this flight, please do not hesitate to e-mail me and I will respond to you promptly.



I very much look forward to seeing you on board the flight in April.



Kind Regards



Toby

Monarch Airlines

http://www.monarch.co.uk

[cHabu]

Additional document:

__________________________

Monarch Airlines Airbus A300-605R – The Last Commercial Flight

(Luton, UK – 18 December 2013) - Monarch Airlines is pleased to announce details of the very last commercial flight service on its long serving Airbus A300-605R. The type has been in service with the airline since 1990,
and has carried more than 20 million holiday makers while in Monarch colours.
The final A300 airframe in the fleet, G-OJMR, will be retiring on Sunday, 13th April 2014, having served the airline for 23 years after being delivered new 1991. In a fitting end to this aircraft’s service,
the final flight will be piloted by the Chief Pilot of Monarch Airlines, Martin Pound. Martin has served Monarch for over 36 years and in 1991, was the pilot charged with flying the first A300 into service.

Monarch’s A300s are the final passenger-carrying examples in service with a European airline, and with its impending retirement from service, the passenger variant of Airbus’ first entry in to the commercial airliner market,
will become a very rare sight in European skies. To celebrate the life of this workhorse of the airline industry, Monarch will be giving enthusiasts one last chance to book on the aircraft by opening up the last commercial flight from London’s Gatwick Airport to Birmingham.
On Sunday 13th April 2014, this special Monarch flight ZB300 will depart Gatwick Airport’s South Terminal at 2.40pm, for a leisurely flight to Birmingham International Airport, arriving at 3.40pm.
The aircraft, in 347-seat configuration, will be sold to capacity, with seats bookable via the Monarch website, http://www.monarch.co.uk from Friday 20th December 2013, 9.00am GMT.

Seats on the flight will be priced at £74 per person, inclusive of airport taxes and charges.

Customers can select a seat at the point of purchase, or afterwards if you choose, subject to availability. Seating will be priced as follows ;

Window Seats: £25 per person
Aisle Seats in window row: £15 per person
Middle Seats in window row: £11 per person
Aisle Seats in middle row: £5 per person
Middle Seats in middle row: £1 per person


This flight will operate as a hand luggage only flight and normal hand luggage restrictions will apply.

Also:

* Refunds will not be offered to passengers booking window seats if the weather is inclement, or if visibility is poor.
* If passengers choose not to reserve a specific seat, one will be allocated free of charge at check-in on the day of the flight.
* Booking fees will apply to bookings made with a credit card.

[EHAM]

To put things in perspective for the Dutch people:
*Amsterdam - London Gatwick: 50 euros (Easyjet A319)
*London Gatwick - Birmingham: 90 euros (Monarch A300)
*Birmingham - Amsterdam: 60 euros (Flybe Dash 8 )
So all in all 200 euros for this unique daytrip.