Monarch Confirmed as Excel Replacement

[SimonRickwood]

The Tourism Minister in Tobago has announced that Monarch will replace Excel's winter service. The route will be combined with Greneda.
This was announced by him on Wednesday, and has been reported in Tobago News

Simon Rickwood Anders Travel Ltd

[Ben W]

Hi

Its good news that someone is willing to fill the hole, Im not sure if its such good news that its Monarch though!!

I've heard horror stories about Monarch's long haul service and don't think any development will take place on the service they offer, until their 787 order is fulfilled in 2011 (at the earliest). Has anyone on here flown with them long haul at all??

How much cheaper were Excel on average than BA/ Virgin and how did the service compare?

Cheers
Ben

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Ben

Monarch have several years of experience flying to Tobago. They were the operators of the Golden Caribbean charter service when it first started around 2000-2001 and until they lost the contract to Excel Airlines in late 2003.

The only regular complaint about Monarch was the highly limited seat pitch in standard economy seating. Their Premier class was brilliant value and perfectly adequate for the length of flight. It was our personal standard way of getting to and from Tobago. I think the aircraft they used then are long gone and think Monarch will realise that to be successful, they will have to provide at least the same legroom as BA and Virgin. We shall see. Other than that, I welcome news of their return - not just because Tobago needs an alternative to BA and Virgin, but also because the Monarch service was good.

[Patrick Dankou]

Hi,
It's official now that Monarch will replace XL, see this article : http://www.thetobagonews.com/index.pl/a ... d=18632927
I am always surprised about the aircraft info in the Tobago news , I've never seen a Boing 737-800 capable to take a payload across the Atlantic without refueling somewhere, not to mention the 269 seats.
The A 350 will not be flying before 2010, it is Airbus answer to the Boing 777 and 787.
XL used the Boing 767 and Monarch will operate an Airbus A330, a larger and more comfortable aircraft.

[Ben W]

As far as I'm aware Monarch have no 350s on order, looks like folk will deffo be stuck with a really old A300, an A330 or 767 for a number of years with old IFE and the current Monarch seat pitch of 29 inches, a very important 2 short of that offered by BA or Virgin. Im 5'10 and BA is just about fine, any less and I wouldnt fancy a 10 hour flight!

I very much doubt the pitch will be changed until their 787s come into service, I can only see Monarch changing their pitch if they start losing a lot of business to First Choice/ Thompson, their real competitors, who actually offer more leg room than BA and Virgin (and probably have better IFE than BA and Virgin on their aircraft that serve the Caribbean). Its a shame First Choice didn't jump in to fill the whole, their Long Haul 'Star Class' product really does sound excellent, from the reviews Ive read, their standard seat pitch is only an inch or two shorter than the Monarch Premium ones.

Steve, can you remember how much more the Monarch Premium service was in excess of their standard seats? And how did this compare to the BA and VS fares? Were there any other benefits worth the extra, bar the leg room?

Cheers
Ben

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Ben

Thanks for that. It will be interesting to see what gives once they've announced their plans. At the moment, I'm told that their Customer Services department don't even know that Tobago is to be added to their service.

I'm afraid that I can't remember what the Monarch prices were like. I have listings here going back to Winter 2003/2004 but that was the start of the Excel Service - where Premium Economy was around 65% more than standard Economy (base price of £586 compared to £356) and Excel One 39% more than Premium (base £816).

[Andy D]

According to the Golden Caribbean site Monarch are due to start services from 17th December 2008.

[Paul Tallet]

Hmmm ... I am hoping ... otherwise my visit next January is off.

Regards