Birmingham boosted by new Monarch flights and 200 jobs

BIRMINGHAM Airport has received a boost with the announcement by one of its airlines that it is to increase its services, creating 200 new jobs.

Monarch Airlines will be introducing five new routes and will be basing two additional aircraft at the hub.

The new services will fly to Rome, Dubrovnik, Milan, Venice and Heraklion from next summer and the services take the total number of routes served by the airline to 29.

The two additional Airbus A320 aircraft, which will be based at Birmingham from March next year, expand the airline’s Birmingham fleet to six planes.

The airport said the decision highlighted the confidence shown in Birmingham as an ambitious and proactive hub and would see a further 151,000 seats being made available.

Paul Kehoe, Birmingham Airport’s CEO, said: “We are delighted with Monarch’s announcement regarding growth at Birmingham. The increase in the choice of routes served by Monarch underpins the confidence the airline has in the future growth of our region.  In a difficult market it is encouraging to see this expansion also supporting the creation of up to 200 jobs.

“With the airport’s considerable investment in facilities and with plans to commit £100m over the next 10 years, the industry is clearly impressed with the work we are doing. We have enjoyed a long-standing relationship with the airline and we look forward to working further with Monarch and building on our successful partnership with them to promote and launch their new routes.”

Kevin George, managing director, Monarch Airlines, said the airline’s strategy was now firmly focused on its scheduled operations and it was pleased to be adding the new Birmingham routes.

“Since launching scheduled services from Birmingham in summer 2005, Monarch’s operation has continued to grow from strength to strength and we have expanded our operations based on customer demand,” he said.

“We are all very excited to be adding two additional aircraft to our Birmingham fleet and introducing our first flights to Italy and Croatia, which is fantastic news for our customers in the Midlands and cements Birmingham as one of Monarch’s key UK airports.”

In a further shake-up to the region’s aviation sector, BA parent, International Airlines Group and Germany’s Lufthansa, today announced they had reached an agreement in principle for the purchase of East Midlands-based British Midland. 

The sale and closing of the deal remain subject to conditions including a binding purchase agreement, further due diligence and regulatory clearances. It is envisaged the purchase agreement by IAG will be signed in the coming weeks and the aim is for the transaction to be completed in the first quarter of 2012.