Monarch Airlines Brings Competition to London Gatwick – Barcelona Route

UK scheduled carrier Monarch Airlines has announced that it will introduce a new daily service between London Gatwick and Barcelona from October 21, increasing to eleven flights per week from October 30. This will bring the airline’s network from the London airport to 13 destinations.

The new route will place Monarch in direct competition with easyJet which already offers up to five flights per day on the route. An estimated 437,000 O&D passengers travelled between the London airport and the Spanish city in the past year, up 1.9 per cent, despite British Airways dropping its own flights on the route during the period.

Monarch already has experience of the Barcelona market with a daily connection from its base at Manchester Airport. “Barcelona is one of the UK’s most popular short break destinations and we are delighted to be adding this to our route network from Gatwick in addition to our existing flights from Manchester,” said Kevin George, Managing Director, Monarch Airlines. “Barcelona attracts a broad mix of visitors for business, city breaks and leisure for beach goers. During the winter season it is a fantastic gateway to the ski slopes of the Pyrenees.”