EZY to buy GB Airways!

What is legroom like on Monarch scheduled services LGW to Alicante (or Murcia), how does it compare to likely E-J legroom? Can you select or request extra legroom seats at Monarch check-in, or is their boarding process the same free-for-all stampede as per E-J?

All thoughts welcome as I try and decide whether to cancel the GB-tickets and rebook with Monarch (or another).

Cheers
Paul F

Hi Paul,

Not exactly sure about the difference in legroom between Monarch and Easyjet, but I can’t imagine it being hugely different to be honest as the aircraft are also used on Monarch’s charter services, so legroom is not wonderful.

To answer your second point in terms of seat selection on Monarch, you can pre-allocate your seats online. By doing this, you are then able to make use of the online check-in system and I think they even allow you to print your own boarding pass off now!

You can also pre-book extra legroom seats online, which offers approx 34in seat-pitch, but there is an additional charge of £15 per seat, per one-way flight, and these seats are located on the emergency exit rows, so usual health & safety conditions will also apply.

Be aware though…as good as all of this may sound, as of 1st November Monarch introduced a hold baggage charge, whereby you pay £3.99 if you book online, £8 through the call centre or £10 at the airport! This charge is per bag, per one-way flight.

You might want to read some of the reviews on this website before making a final decision: http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/monarch.htm

Hope this helps.:D

Easy Jet takeover of GB Airways may not be to everyone’s taste….

Personally I hope it doesn’t go through – being taller than average I don’t want to travel EJ to Spain next summer – thats why we had already booked GB Airways flights via BA. We flew GB Airways last year, and the legroom was fine, and we got a complimentary sandwich and drink (and free hold baggage check-in) – unlike easyjet.

Last time I travelled anywhere on E-J my knees were wedged against the seat in front – not something I fancy for two and half hours, esp if the passenger in front of me tries to recline his seat.

I know many people only book short haul on basis of price, so the onward march of E-J may seem like good news, but for some of us legroom is a higher priority than price. Likewise, as a family of four, but without small kids it’s good to sit together, something the E-J boarding process often doesn’t allow.

What is legroom like on Monarch scheduled services LGW to Alicante (or Murcia), how does it compare to likely E-J legroom? Can you select or request extra legroom seats at Monarch check-in, or is their boarding process the same free-for-all stampede as per E-J?

All thoughts welcome as I try and decide whether to cancel the GB-tickets and rebook with Monarch (or another).

Cheers
Paul F

i dont want to pee on anyones parade….but hasn’t this merger still got to get the competition authorities blessing before its a done deal?

Will that mean there will be A321s in Easyjet livery.

I think that they would feel a little down but hey there is a white cloud ahead not a dark One. That is another point to mention. All FDC will be able to pilot A319 upwards but will EZY use the GB CC on there 320/321 Routes

I wonder how the crews will feel if they have no option but to move to Easyjet. It’s one thing to say you fly aircraft for British Airways and another for Easyjet

WW have no flights to CDG or AMS ex-MAN. LS have a daily CDG, but the AMS route is stopping in January. I don’t envisage any problems for U2 to operate to CDG or AMS ex-MAN should they want to, but I’m sure some passengers who utilise their LPL services to those airports may find themselves booking on the MAN ones….which would be the worst-case scenario for them as they could potentially have 4 loss-making services instead of 2 successful ones out of LPL.

MAN should be offering EZY a good deal to maintain the MAN GB routes aswell as trying to get them to start SXF,MAD and some other important cities currently missing from the MAN route map.

^^GB operations will be take over by EZY at the begining of the Summer Oparations.If we think about this it is what EZY have always wanted. But Man give then the red light and BA the green but BA have done nothing with there MAN “Base” with only a MAN-JFK link which i think is a bit petty. MAN could see BMI Baby pull out along with other LCC. I think and hope that EZY do what they have done with there LGW base which is over a few years start to build it up.Also i think that AF/KLM will start to decrease there service into MAN from CDG/AMS(Respectively) with EZY/WW/LS offering flights to CDG/AMS at low fares and with all three carriers offering at least 6 or 7 daily flights between MAN and CDG/AMS

Im guessing GB will pull out of MAN.

BA intend starting LGW to APG, FAO, GIB, IBZ, TUN & PMI as well as LHR to AGP & FAO.

No start dates as yet.

1L.

I suppose it all depends on the routes that are served from the two airports though Andrew, people will travel to LGW from East Anglia if the route is not served from STN, and there are also some people who will travel from LGW because they seem to think they are getting a better deal by getting a lower price…what they dont think about is the additional time, money and stress involved in getting to LGW.

When talking about catchment areas, you do not usually take into account people who are travelling because of route selection or price as this can take place across any UK airports. If a route is not available from Manchester, it is possible that the closest airport is LHR and they travel there.

Of course there are exceptions to every rule but on a majority basis people will not travel to LGW if STN is the closest airport.

Wont EZY just get rid of the A320/21’s of GB, and replace them with more A319’s…and the just use the slots they acquire in order to expand their services out of LGW!? Although these a/c are practically the same, except in capacity terms, it is a complete u-turn on one of their fundamental principles of operating more than one type of aircraft?!

Also from October 2008 BA are dropping their franchise with Loganair!

Yeah I read that too…Wille Walsh has said “UK franchises have outlived their purpose!”…if anything I think this could do more damage to BA as they are loosing the routes that these franchise airlines serve, using the distinctive BA branding.

LGW serves the whole south east corner of England and STN serves East Anglia. I would hardly imagine people travelling from Ipswich to LGW when they can be at STN in 2 hours less than it takes to LGW.

I suppose it all depends on the routes that are served from the two airports though Andrew, people will travel to LGW from East Anglia if the route is not served from STN, and there are also some people who will travel from LGW because they seem to think they are getting a better deal by getting a lower price…what they dont think about is the additional time, money and stress involved in getting to LGW.

Well i just think that this will bring some extra competion to the MAN area. If EZY get the routes the GB Airways were previously serving which means Crete,Malta,Paphos,Innsbruck,Salzburg will be served. I just hope they do carry on with them destinations and add some more maybe Greek Islands Balaric Islands and Canary Islands with some mainland France,Spain,Portugal and Germany thrown into there we could see some quite gritty competion with Jet 2 and FCA/TOM,TCX/MYT,MON.

Edit- What will happen with the 5 A321’s and 1 A320 ordered. Will they go to BA or EZY or will they be delivered during the winter months ready for EZY to take over

So LTN, STN and LGW don’t have the same catchment area?

Not really. LTN and STN yes but comparing either to LGW is wrong. Their only commonon denominator is london but I doubt that represents anywhere near 100% of their passengers.

LGW serves the whole south east corner of England and STN serves East Anglia. I would hardly imagine people travelling from Ipswich to LGW when they can be at STN in 2 hours less than it takes to LGW.

So LTN, STN and LGW don’t have the same catchment area? BHX and EMA don’t have the same catchement area? GLA and EDI don’t have the same catchment area?

I would hardly call their expansion of LPL as being very significant given the amount of time they’ve been there, especially considering what Ryanair has done in less than half the time.

If we want to talk about small initial operations, FR only had an Emb110 back in 1985 routing between Waterford and Gatwick. easyJet had to wetlease a GT 737 to operate their first services.

And whether any of the “doubters” want to dismiss, virtually all parts of the easy Empire when brought into the northwest have debuted at Manchester. The airline is the only went to LPL because MAN wanted to focus in on the BA grand scheme of things at the time, and LPL was crying out for business. Now there are lower charges plus having just got sniffering around with slot applications they buy an airlines that has got some slots and aircraft based, it seems a ripe opportunity for them to start up. They might not even operating the same routes out of LPL as they do out of MAN; the reason they might not come is if it becomes embarrassing if they duplicated their existing LPL routes and saw LPL’s passenger numbers plummet. As for the deal with LPL…may I just remind you that deals can be broken…specifically BA and GT and their 10 year franchise agreement ending 2 years early!

Excellent post David….you could go on…Paris Orly, Paris Cdg have both got the same catchment area! Jet2,Bmibaby etc had better be aware “The futures bright,The futures Orange!!” only time will tell!!!!……………………….

So LTN, STN and LGW don’t have the same catchment area? BHX and EMA don’t have the same catchement area? GLA and EDI don’t have the same catchment area?

I would hardly call their expansion of LPL as being very significant given the amount of time they’ve been there, especially considering what Ryanair has done in less than half the time.

If we want to talk about small initial operations, FR only had an Emb110 back in 1985 routing between Waterford and Gatwick. easyJet had to wetlease a GT 737 to operate their first services.

And whether any of the “doubters” want to dismiss, virtually all parts of the easy Empire when brought into the northwest have debuted at Manchester. The airline is the only went to LPL because MAN wanted to focus in on the BA grand scheme of things at the time, and LPL was crying out for business. Now there are lower charges plus having just got sniffering around with slot applications they buy an airlines that has got some slots and aircraft based, it seems a ripe opportunity for them to start up. They might not even operating the same routes out of LPL as they do out of MAN; the reason they might not come is if it becomes embarrassing if they duplicated their existing LPL routes and saw LPL’s passenger numbers plummet. As for the deal with LPL…may I just remind you that deals can be broken…specifically BA and GT and their 10 year franchise agreement ending 2 years early!

They have bought GB for the LGW consolidation – simultaneously removing a competitor and getting slots for expansion. The MAN set-up is a small base with a handful of routes and so natural that it won’t be top of their priorities. I’m not really sure why EZY would be desperate to get into MAN really considering they must be more than happy with LPL if they have signed up to the sort of long term deal people say they have and serving the same catchment area from two bases doesn’t make a lot of sense from a low-cost perspective.

Exactly, the talk about MAN is just a red herring really, GB only have 1 or 2 flights a day so its hardly big stuff.

They have bought GB for the LGW consolidation – simultaneously removing a competitor and getting slots for expansion. The MAN set-up is a small base with a handful of routes and so natural that it won’t be top of their priorities. I’m not really sure why EZY would be desperate to get into MAN really considering they must be more than happy with LPL if they have signed up to the sort of long term deal people say they have and serving the same catchment area from two bases doesn’t make a lot of sense from a low-cost perspective.

They haven’t got a clue what they’re going to do with the MAN ops! They’ve now been handed the opportunity to operate out of MAN (which is what they originally wanted way back in 1996 when MAN turned their nose at them when they preferred to be shafted by BA a decade later!) with a few routes. It strikes me that this is a strange way of taking over a business when you “forget” about a part of the concern you are taking over.