Monarch back to the future

In case you missed it, it was 30 years ago last week that Marty McFly travelled back to the future in what became the iconic film of the same name. 

Among those marking the occasion was Monarch, which recalled that 1985 was equally exciting for the airline as it was the year the CAA granted it a licence to operate a scheduled network. 

Flights to Malaga, Menorca and Tenerife were introduced from Luton Airport and the change in operations brought the retirement of the airline’s last BAC1-11 and ushered in the Boeing 757-200.

More than 1.5m passengers travelled with the airline that year. Monarch now boasts 6.9m sector seats to 39 destinations as it enters the first winter season as a fully scheduled European carrier.  

Not to be outdone in the celebration stakes, the first production ATR 42 was delivered in 1985, to Air France. The 50-seat aircraft was joined in 1988 by the stretched ATR 72, offering up to 74 seats.  The total production run of the two types is now more than 1,200 and both sizes are still selling well.  www.monarch.co.uk

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