UK holiday carrier Monarch Airlines has emerged as the latest customer to cancel its Boeing 787 order, confirming it was the carrier behind last week's axing of six aircraft from the twinjet's backlog.
The company said it has "reassessed its decision" to purchase the aircraft, following plans disclosed in June to concentrate on reinforcing its scheduled short-haul operations.
But it added that the cancellation "does not affect" the plan by its maintenance arm, Monarch Aircraft Engineering, to support the 787.
Monarch said the maintenance division was "committed" to providing line and base services for the twinjet from early next year, along with its support for Boeing 737, 757, 767 and 777 jets.
"[We] will see further expansion into new UK bases and new routes from 2012, while remaining dedicated to supporting [our] long-standing tour operator partner needs," said the airline.
"Further consideration will be given to developing and strengthening long-haul options in the future."
Monarch, which revealed its plan to acquire the Rolls-Royce Trent-powered 787s in 2006, had originally intended to take delivery from 2010. But it recently said that delays to the programme had pushed their introduction back to around 2014.
Its order cancellation brings the number of 787s in the firm backlog down to 821.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
