Monarch Airlines has become the first UK airline to order the Airbus Industrie A330, having concluded a preliminary agreement with the consortium for up to four long range -200s, including two options.
The airline, which has selected Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines, will take delivery of the two firmly ordered aircraft in the second quarter of 1999. The A330s will be operated in a 381-seat layout on the airline's long-haul charter flights, alongside its McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30, primarily from Gatwick and Manchester to the Far East and the Caribbean.
Monarch will also place a firm order with Airbus for two International Aero Engines V2533-A5-powered, A321-200s, for its European charter operations, with deliveries planned for early 1999. The airline will begin operating a leased 220-seat A321-200 on its 1997 summer schedule, alongside its fleet of four Airbus A300-600Rs, 12 A320s, seven Boeing 757s and the DC-10.
According to Monarch managing director Danny Bernstein, the selection of the A330-200 followed a "tough and close" evaluation, which included the Boeing 767-300ER, and second hand DC-10-30s. "The 767 route would have had certain advantages, given our 757 fleet," says Bernstein, "but we chose to opt for the Airbus, due to a combination of factors."
Bernstein adds that Monarch will make full use of the cockpit commonality between its narrow and widebody Airbus twinjet fleet.
In 1995, the carrier began operating the DC-10 on its long-haul charters, and Bernstein says that the requirement for additional aircraft results from the increasing demand in the UK for long-distance holidays.
"The market has expanded dramatically, and we will be well placed to cope with the demand," he says.
According to Bernstein, the introduction of the A321, which has a similar passenger capacity to that of the longer-range Boeing 757, will not affect the size of Monarch's Boeing fleet, but may have an impact on the smaller A320s. "There is an increasing need for a larger aircraft than the A320 on our European routes," Bernstein says.
Source: Flight International
