Stricken Monarch was unable to compete with new budget king Norwegian Air, experts say
There are fears of a domino effect as other low-cost airlines struggle to compete with prices such as £200 to New York
STRICKEN Monarch was sent under by new budget king Norwegian Air, experts claim today.
The once-great British flier could not match the firm’s cheap tickets, modern planes and frequent routes.
And there are fears of a domino effect as other low-cost airlines struggle to compete with prices such as £200 to New York.
Monarch, the UK’s oldest commercial airline after 50 years in the skies, collapsed last Monday with the loss of 1,900 jobs.
Analysts say it was still busy, and popular with travellers — notably for the comfort of cabins.
But Norwegian could offer new routes, with frequent services, in a large modern, fuel-efficient fleet after buying 222 planes from Boeing and Airbus.
Former fighter pilot boss Bjorn Kjos, 71, cut out the middleman for a better deal.
The price was further lowered because Norway is outside the EU.
The firm was granted a foreign air permit by US officials after satisfying them that its Dublin-based subsidiary, Norwegian Air International, was an Irish company.
It was then considered part of the EU which has an “Open Skies” agreement with America.
BUD-JET SET Norwegian Air have launched even more cheap US flights
Aviation analyst Alex Macheras said: “The introduction of Norwegian’s fierce growth made Monarch more fragile.”
Industry expert Seth Kaplan added: “Was Norwegian problematic for Monarch? Absolutely. They are cheap and they are growing and they are there.”
