Monarch Airlines, a UK-based airline company, will be operating out of East Midlands Airport, in addition to current operations at Birmingham Airport.
The airline will be operating out of its new base at East Midlands Airport from the late summer of 2012, offering flights to destinations including Malaga (Spain), Alicante (Spain), Palma (Majorca) and Faro (Portugal).
The airline is also planning an expansion of its operations from Birmingham Airport by offering more flights on existing routes to Malaga, Alicante, Faro, Rome and Palma, as well as a new service to Barcelona (Spain).
The airline is presently offering flights to around 20 European destinations from Birmingham Airport.
The airline managing director, Kevin George, said, ‘In light of recent industry changes, opportunities have opened up in the market. It has become clear that the Midlands will be underserved as a region in the future, and that there is a lack of quality carriers to serve customers travelling from the area.
As an airline with over 40 years heritage and a stronghold in the Midlands already, the expansion of our existing services from Birmingham and the launch of operations from East Midlands makes perfect sense for Monarch, and accelerates the strategy we announced last year to focus on the development of our scheduled operations into key leisure destinations across the Mediterranean, the Canaries and North Africa.
The further expansion of our services from the Midlands will provide even more customers in the Midlands with choice and flexibility and protects jobs at East Midlands Airport in the future.’
