Monarch withdraws Gatwick to Granada services

Monarch’s service between Granada and London Gatwick was withdrawn from 04 November 2007 - a decision that was not taken lightly and one that has been evaluated by Monarch for some time.

Monarch’s services between the UK and Granada launched in May 2005 with a daily afternoon flight. The number of passengers initially travelling on the route however did not support seven flights a week and in an attempt to improve load factors, the frequency of flights was cut to four per week. Over the past two years, the departure time and frequency of flights have been adjusted to help stimulate sales on the route, however levels have not risen to an acceptable level and the continuation of the route has now proven to be commercially unviable for the airline.

When compared with services between Gatwick and Malaga, which have seen average season load factors of 87%, 82% and 86% for Summer 2006, Winter 2006/2007 and Summer 2007 respectively, Granada has struggled with average season load factors of 76%, 70% and 74%. Average yields (the amount charged for a flight), are also lower on Granada services, with sales decreasing significantly if fares are raised. Average yields have been 12%, 14% and 19% behind those charged on Monarch’s Gatwick to Malaga flights, resulting in increasingly less revenue generated from operating flights to Granada.

The decision to withdraw from the Gatwick - Granada route was not made in isolation and was part of a full network review which has resulted in a number of other underperforming routes also being withdrawn.

Monarch appreciates that the withdrawal of the Granada service will cause inconvenience to travellers from the region, however the poor load factors and decreasing yields on the route can not be sustained and support Monarch’s decision to withdraw services.

Passengers who were booked to travel on the route after Sunday 04 November were offered alternative flights or a full refund and individual customer enquiries have been responded to giving a full explanation of Monarch’s decision to withdraw the service.