News: Monarch axes Malaga flights from Aberdeen
Flights > News > # 1390 (27/07/2007)
Monarch is scrapping its flights from Aberdeen to Malaga this autumn due to poor sales.
The budget airline launched the route two years ago, but said it was no longer viable.
The service, which operates three times a week, will continue as normal until October 27.
A number of flights will also operate during the Christmas holidays - on December 22, 26 and 29 and January 2, 5 and 7.
A Monarch spokesman said: "Additional operating costs are incurred by the airline for these flights, which have regrettably made the continuation of the service unviable.
"Passengers currently booked to travel after October 27 will be contacted and offered a full refund."
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Comment:
Monarch Scheduled might like to blame these so-called additional costs for their decision to axe this route, but our suspicion is that this is a simple case of better equipped competition in the form of Flyglobespan venturing into this market.
With Ryanair having recently announced that they will cancel their cheap flights to Aberdeen from Liverpool, this hasn’t been the best week for Aberdeen airport’s managers, but it doesn't alter the fact that the airport has seen substantial growth in recent years.
Granted, BAA's Aberdeen airport handling charges have created plenty of criticism in the past, but any deal that Flyglobespan have negotiated here has clearly been enough to enable them to set up a network of routes, and to base one of their aircraft there. Perhaps Monarch are also concerned about the additional fuel costs incurred by operating flights from Aberdeen - this might be relevant in comparison to the Malaga flights they operate from other airports such as Birmingham or Manchester, but this is again less of an issue for Flyglobespan who already operate a substantial network of flights from Edinburgh and Glasgow, which are still relatively close to Aberdeen - in flying time at least.
