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The Monarch Group is the UKs leading
independent travel group, with core activities in
scheduled airline operations, tour operations
and aircraft engineering.
Monarch Holdings Limited (MHL) is the holding
company of The Monarch Group.
Our leading aviation and
travel brands are:
Monarch Airlines
First Aviation
Monarch Aircraft Engineering
Cosmos Holidays
Avro
somewhere2stay
www.monarchholdingslimited.com
Visit our corporate website for
up-to-date information about
The Monarch Group.
You can nd:
Latest news
Group strategy
Vision and values
Our community and corporate
citizenship activities
Company images and videos
Group history
1
The Monarch Group
ANNUAL REPORT 2012
Group revenue m
757.7 2010
757.8 2011
825.1 2012
Group pre-tax and pre-exceptional operating prot/(loss) m
14.1 2010
(51.1) 2011
(14.9) 2012
Highlights
FY12
Increase in Group turnover (net of intra-Group sales) from
757.8 million to 825.1 million.
Group-wide operational like-for-like cost savings of
31.6 million, as planned.
15.7% increase in Monarch Airlines scheduled passenger
volumes (4.6m to 5.3m).
Strong protable growth in Tour Operations sales and yields.
Further protable growth in Monarch Aircraft Engineering
turnover.
20m unique visitors to Group customer online platforms
(up 21% on FY11).
Strengthened leadership and governance with appointments
of Non-Executive and Executive Directors to holding
company Board.
Contents
1 Highlights
2 The Monarch Group at a glance
4 Adapting to a changing industry
and markets
6 Our network
8 From the Executive Chairman
10 Business model
12 Monarch Airlines
16 Tour Operations
20 Monarch Aircraft Engineering
24 Retail and Online
26 Financial review
28 Board of Monarch Holdings Limited
30 Group Management Board
32 Corporate governance
34 The Monarch Foundation
36 Corporate responsibility
40 Independent auditors report
41 Consolidated prot and loss account
42 Consolidated statement of total recognised
gains and losses
43 Consolidated balance sheet
44 Company balance sheet
45 Consolidated cash flow statement
46 Notes to the nancial statements
67 Ofcers and professional advisers
FY12 nancial performance represents good progress towards
the target of consolidated operating protability for all trading
divisions for the year to 31 October 2013.
Three-year nancial performance
2
The Monarch Group
ANNUAL REPORT 2012
Avro somewhere2stay
The Monarch Group at a glance
A unied group of businesses
The Monarch Group is the UKs
leading independent travel group,
with core activities in scheduled
airline operations, tour operations
and aircraft engineering, and a
turnover of 825.1 million for the
12 months ended 31 October 2012.
Group prole
Headquartered at London
Luton Airport
50-year trading history
2,847 employees
Monarch Airlines
Monarch Airlines is a leading UK-based scheduled leisure
airline operating flights from six bases in the UK London
Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, East Midlands, Leeds-
Bradford and London Luton airports to leisure destinations
around the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands and to ski
destinations in winter.
Through First Aviation, the flight broking division of the Group, scheduled
airline and traditional charter capacity is ofered to tour operators, and this
flexible model underpins demand and manages risk while supporting and
de-risking development of the Monarch Airlines route network.
Tour Operations Cosmos Holidays,
Avro and somewhere2stay
The Tour Operations division of The Monarch Group,
comprising Cosmos Holidays, Avro and somewhere2stay,
ofers a flexible and wide choice of holidays to some 72
destinations worldwide.
Customers look to the Cosmos brand and its long-established reputation
for expertise and reliability to help them to navigate through a changing
landscape for holiday travel, and to purchase fully protected holiday
products with condence. Avro provides a broad range of charter seat
availability, duration and prices to meet demand from tour operators and
the growing dynamic packaging sector, selling overall in excess of one million
flight sectors annually, and somewhere2stay ofers low-cost hotel, villa
and apartment accommodation worldwide. The Tour Operations division
also operates white-label ofers under the brand names Monarch Holidays
and Monarch Hotels.
815,000
Passenger volumes in FY12
7.4m
Sector seats in FY12
3
The Monarch Group
ANNUAL REPORT 2012
589.0m
TOUR
OPERATIONS
683.5m
AIRLINE
OPERATIONS
86.3m
ENGINEERING
SERVICES
43%
6% 50%
Group gross revenue mix FY12
1%
10.4m
OTHER
Monarch Aircraft Engineering (MAEL)
MAEL provides important and award-winning aircraft
maintenance services from its principal bases at London
Gatwick, London Luton and Manchester airports to the
Monarch Airlines fleet and continues to attract blue-chip
third-party clients located in east and west Europe, the Middle
East, Australia and North America. In 2013, MAEL will open a
new state-of-the-art maintenance facility at Birmingham
Airport to complement its existing UK bases.
The company has expertise in maintaining legacy fleets and is also a leading
Maintenance and Repair Organisation (MRO) for new technology aircraft,
including the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, for which it is one of only six Boeing-
approved GoldCare providers worldwide.
Retail and Online
A nexus for Group e-commerce activity, the Retail and Online
activity supports all of the Groups divisions in the delivery of
their online and e-commerce strategies, providing the
expertise that ensures that the Group exploits new technology,
online trends and continues to innovate in bringing its travel
products to market.
20m
Group unique visitors in FY12
29%
Revenues from third-party customers in FY12
4
The Monarch Group
ANNUAL REPORT 2012
Adapting to a changing industry
and markets
With a 50-year trading history, the
Groups leading aviation and travel
brands have successfully adapted to
continuously changing industries
and customer markets.
1960 1970 1980
Growth of packaged holidays
to Spanish Costas
1961 Launch of Cosmos
1967 Monarch Aircraft Engineering
Limited launched
1968 Monarch Airlines launched
Proliferation of mass market
packaged holidays
1970 Monarch Airlines becomes
all-jet fleet
Cosmos adds flights from Manchester
and Birmingham and increases range of
destinations to include Greece, Portugal
and Yugoslavia
Monarch Aircraft Engineering expands
its UK footprint
Monarch Airlines carries one million
passengers annually
Monarch Airlines is the rst charter airline
worldwide to order next-generation
Boeing 757 aircraft
Monarch Airlines launches scheduled
services, Monarch Crown Service
Cosmos becomes rst mainstream tour
operator to introduce all-inclusive
European holidays
INDUSTRY TRENDS
MONARCH ADAPTS
5
The Monarch Group
ANNUAL REPORT 2012
1990 2000 2012
First Gulf War
Consolidation of tour operators
EU deregulation
Ryanair launches low-cost carrier
(LCC) model
Decline of national flag carriers
short-haul dominance
Cosmos Holidays acquires Avro and
signicantly expands destinations,
including Caribbean and Indian Ocean
Monarch Airlines expands its long-haul
fleet bringing two-class seating to the
charter market
9/11
Second Gulf War
LCC expansion erodes short-haul
charter market
Disintermediation of distribution
Monarch Aircraft Engineering
expands into Europe
Monarch Airlines expands
scheduled network
Cosmos launches somewhere2stay,
ofering flexible duration holidays
Rising fuel costs, higher taxation
Global nancial crisis
Consolidation
Cosmos celebrates ftieth anniversary
Programme to modernise and
reorganise the Group brings efciency
gains and focus on value
Monarch Airlines ofers capacity for
8.3 million passengers in 2012/13 and
strengthens scheduled services
MAEL announces Birmingham
Airport expansion
6
The Monarch Group
ANNUAL REPORT 2012
LEEDS-BRADFORD
LONDON GATWICK
LONDON LUTON
EAST MIDLANDS
BIRMINGHAM
MANCHESTER
SCHEDULED ROUTES
CHARTER ROUTES
CHARTER & SCHEDULED ROUTES
OUR BASES
ALICANTE
ALMERIA
ANTALYA
BARCELONA
BODRUM
DUBROVNIK
SPLIT
BORDEAUX
FARO
FUNCHAL
GIBRALTAR
IBIZA
LARNACA
PALMA DE MALLORCA
PAPHOS
ROME
VENICE
VERONA
MALAGA
MENORCA
NICE
MUNICH
SALZBURG
INNSBRUCK
FRIEDRICHSHAFEN
GENEVA
GRENOBLE
CORFU VOLOS
PREVEZA
KEFALONIA
ZAKYNTHOS
CHANIA
MALTA
SKIATHOS
MYTILENE
DALAMAN
RHODES
HERAKLION
KITTILA
Our network
Monarch Airlines operates scheduled services from six
UK bases London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham,
Leeds-Bradford, East Midlands and London Luton
airports. The Groups Tour Operations activity ofers
holiday destinations worldwide. Monarch Aircraft
Engineering provides maintenance and repair services
from bases in the UK and line stations overseas.
7
The Monarch Group
ANNUAL REPORT 2012
Monarch Airlines total seat inventory
SCHEDULED
OPERATIONS
TOUR OPERATORS
(COSMOS HOLIDAYS AND THIRD PARTIES)
70%
30%
LEEDS-BRADFORD
LONDON GATWICK
LONDON LUTON
EAST MIDLANDS
BIRMINGHAM
MANCHESTER
SCHEDULED ROUTES
CHARTER ROUTES
CHARTER & SCHEDULED ROUTES
OUR BASES
ALICANTE
ALMERIA
ANTALYA
BARCELONA
BODRUM
DUBROVNIK
SPLIT
BORDEAUX
FARO
FUNCHAL
GIBRALTAR
IBIZA
LARNACA
PALMA DE MALLORCA
PAPHOS
ROME
VENICE
VERONA
MALAGA
MENORCA
NICE
MUNICH
SALZBURG
INNSBRUCK
FRIEDRICHSHAFEN
GENEVA
GRENOBLE
CORFU VOLOS
PREVEZA
KEFALONIA
ZAKYNTHOS
CHANIA
MALTA
SKIATHOS
MYTILENE
DALAMAN
RHODES
HERAKLION
KITTILA
TRINIDAD
& TOBAGO
ORLANDO
TABA
ARRECIFE
FUERTEVENTURA
BANJUL
HASSI
MESSAOUD
HURGHADA
SHARM EL SHEIKH
LUXOR
DABOLIM,
GOA
TENERIFE
LAS PALMAS
TRINIDAD
& TOBAGO
ORLANDO
TABA
ARRECIFE
FUERTEVENTURA
BANJUL
HASSI
MESSAOUD
HURGHADA
SHARM EL SHEIKH
LUXOR
DABOLIM,
GOA
TENERIFE
LAS PALMAS
TRINIDAD
& TOBAGO
ORLANDO
TABA
ARRECIFE
FUERTEVENTURA
BANJUL
HASSI
MESSAOUD
HURGHADA
SHARM EL SHEIKH
LUXOR
DABOLIM,
GOA
TENERIFE
LAS PALMAS
TRINIDAD
& TOBAGO
ORLANDO
TABA
ARRECIFE
FUERTEVENTURA
BANJUL
HASSI
MESSAOUD
HURGHADA
SHARM EL SHEIKH
LUXOR
DABOLIM,
GOA
TENERIFE
LAS PALMAS
Monarch Airlines
Monarch Airlines today ofers scheduled services to some
35 destinations across 112 routes, principally to leisure
destinations around the Mediterranean and the Canary
Islands and to ski destinations in winter.
First Aviation, the flight broking division of the Group, ofers
scheduled airline and traditional charter capacity to tour
operators across over 30 routes in summer and 20 routes in
winter, including destinations in Europe, North America and
the Indian Sub-Continent.
Cosmos, Avro and somewhere2stay
Tour Operations, comprising Cosmos Holidays, Avro and
somewhere2stay, ofers some 72 holiday destinations
worldwide, with a focus on the Mediterranean, Egypt and North
Africa, Goa and the Indian Ocean, Mexico, the Caribbean and
Florida. Further specialist destinations include Finnish Lapland
and ski destinations in winter.
Monarch Aircraft Engineering
Monarch Aircraft Engineering provides maintenance from
facilities at London Luton, Manchester, Birmingham and
London Gatwick airports in the UK and overseas line
maintenance in Dublin, Malaga, Alicante, the Canary Islands,
Kiev, Warsaw, Goa and the Maldives.
Principal ofces
The Monarch Group, London Luton Airport
Monarch Airlines, London Luton Airport
Cosmos, Avro and somewhere2stay, Bromley
Monarch Aircraft Engineering, London Luton Airport
First Aviation, London Gatwick Airport
Monarch Airlines 2012/13
112
Scheduled routes
35
Scheduled destinations
Tour Operations 2012/13
72
Holiday destinations worldwide
10m
Holiday products across four continents
NORTH AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN
AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST
ASIA
CANARY ISLANDS
8
The Monarch Group
ANNUAL REPORT 2012
From the Executive Chairman
Returning to protability
Overview
All of the Groups main divisions performed
well in the nancial year 2012 in what have
been challenging market conditions.
Monarch Airlines achieved good yield growth
in line with expectations and moved quickly
to strengthen its market position following
the closure of bmibaby. Tour Operations,
comprising the Groups holiday brands Cosmos
Holidays, Avro and somewhere2stay, and
Monarch Aircraft Engineering maintained their
protable performance of recent years and
now have laid good foundations for growth.
Financial progress in line with plans
I am, therefore, pleased with the progress
that the Group has made over the last year
in delivering results in line with our business
plan objectives. For the 12 months ending
31 October 2012, Group turnover net of intra-
Group sales increased from 757.8 million to
825.1 million, or 8.9 per cent. On a pre-tax and
pre-exceptional basis, losses were substantially
reduced, from 51.1 million to 14.9 million.
These overall results for the Group reflect
Monarch Airlines good yield growth, the
ongoing protable performance in the tour
operating and engineering divisions, strong
discipline on cost control, which achieved a
planned operational like-for-like 31.6 million
reduction in operating expenses, and the
delivery of an efective e-commerce strategy.
This performance represents sound
progress in the rst year of our two-year
turnaround plan, and we are advancing
towards our target of restoring the Group
to overall protability by November 2013.
Maintaining our momentum
Monarch Airlines is now well advanced
with its modernisation and cost reduction
programmes at a time when other larger
operators continue to face important
restructuring challenges, and our proposition
provides clear and real choice to consumers
who value a superior travel experience at a
competitive price. On 29 November 2012,
we announced plans for the re-equipping
of the Monarch Airlines aircraft fleet,
which envisages an order for a total of 62
replacement and expansion aircraft for
delivery up to 2024, facilitating improvement
in service levels to the Airlines customers,
better asset utilisation and efciency, and
enabling Monarch Airlines to be benchmarked
against low-cost competitors. Invitations
have been issued to the worlds largest
aircraft manufacturers to submit proposals
through a strategy which will consider both
leasing and purchasing of aircraft, and this is
continuing to progress in line with our plans.
We are advancing towards our target
of restoring the Group to overall
protability by November 2013.
Iain Rawlinson
Executive Chairman
9
The Monarch Group
ANNUAL REPORT 2012
The Tour Operations division of the Group
now has potential to improve its growth
prospects as it makes investments in a new
inventory management software and in its new
selling platform, increasing awareness of the
Cosmos brand. Monarch Aircraft Engineering
has announced its plans for expansion with
a further engineering facility at Birmingham
Airport and has recently conrmed an
important new customer which will provide
the critical mass to develop new business at
both this facility and across its wider network.
Strengthened governance and
leadership team
The governance and leadership team
of Monarch have been signicantly
strengthened as the Group continues to
modernise and lay the foundations for
the next phase of its development.
The Board of Monarch Holdings Limited
(the holding company of the Group),
of which I am Executive Chairman, was
signicantly strengthened during the year
by the appointments of Robert Palmer
as Group Finance Director, and of Sir
Roy McNulty and Austin Reid as Non-
Executive Directors. Further details of the
Directors and the Group Management
Board can be found on pages 28 to 31.
The industry sectors in which we operate
are evolving quickly and it is a priority for
the Group to engage in the flow of ideas
that are both shaping this change and
bringing new opportunities for the future.
With this document, which is the Groups rst
published Annual Report and Accounts, as
well as a new Group corporate website, we are
underlining our commitment to enhancing
our stakeholders understanding of our
capabilities and prospects as a Group, and
the strong industrial logic which underpins
our unique combination of businesses.
The Monarch Foundation a force for
good in our communities
The leadership of the Group recognises that
we have a responsibility to be an efective
corporate citizen in the communities in
which we operate and beyond. Not only
do our millions of customers expect the
highest standards of service delivery, they
also expect our approach to business to
be, as a minimum, authentic, inclusive and
transparent and in the area of philanthropic
activity to be doing what we can.
Our Group has a long history of charitable
engagement and this is something of which
it can be proud. The size and nature of The
Monarch Group is such that through more
efective coordination of these activities we
should be able to build up our efectiveness
as a good corporate citizen in the locations
where we operate and, at the same time,
positively reinforce the Groups brand values
to our millions of customers. In May 2013 we
are launching The Monarch Foundation, an
umbrella organisation within the The Monarch
Group, which will organise all of the charitable
activity that is carried on by the Group and in
the Groups name. Further information about
this important new initiative in the life of the
Group can be found on pages 34 and 35.
Outlook
Our business model and unique combination
of businesses is resilient and the Group is now
better placed to unlock its potential, although
we remain cautious about the outlook and
expect difcult market conditions to persist.
We are pleased with our continuing progress
in increasing the levels of recognition of the
Monarch and Cosmos travel brands, supported
by use of technology, and of consumer
oferings diferentiated by superior service
levels and choice, as well with the growth in
reputation of our engineering activity. We
continue to focus on strengthening our
commercial proposition and to look at how
best to serve our customers, and we are laying
the foundations for the Groups future growth.
We thank our shareholders for their support
and all our employees for their important
contribution to the good results achieved
in the last few years, and in 2012.
Iain Rawlinson
Executive Chairman
29 April 2013
Q&A with the Executive
Chairman
What is the industrial logic for
The Monarch Groups businesses?
Our combination of businesses and their
mutual interdependency is unique in the
market and provides good opportunities
to yield additional margin. The airline
and tour operating divisions work
together to bring product to market,
thereby de-risking growth, while the
engineering activity is using its expertise
in servicing Monarch Airlines to attract
high-quality third-party customers.
How is Monarch Airlines beneting
from industry change?
The closure of bmibaby in 2012 was an
opportunity for us to absorb key routes
and flying capacity. This is contributing
to the growth of Monarch Airlines in 2013.
Much of the catalyst for current change
in the airline industry arose in 2011 with
the increase in fuel cost. By being able to
move quickly to reorganise the business,
we have been able to signicantly reduce
the risks of high fuel price volatility.
In what ways is Cosmos able to compete
in the evolving holiday marketplace?
The implementation of the new TravelBox
inventory management software flattens
the technology landscape between Cosmos
and its competitors. It enables Cosmos
to compete head-on with products for
direct customers to purchase, and to
mingle these with a wider range of travel
products. Demand is increasing for
traditional package products underpinned
by ATOL protection, and this plays to
the strengths of the Cosmos brand.
What is the potential for the aircraft
engineering division?
Monarch Aircraft Engineering is in many
ways the hidden gem in the Group. We
have set ourselves the task of breaking
out of the traditional perimeters for this
business, and with the increase in MRO
capabilities and a new state-of-the-art
facility at Birmingham Airport the prospects
for further growth in its third-party
business are signicantly enhanced.
For a full video interview with Iain Rawlinson,
visit The Monarch Group website
www.monarchholdingslimited.com
10
The Monarch Group
ANNUAL REPORT 2012
DIFFERENTIATED,
HIGH-QUALITY
CUSTOMER
PROPOSITION
LEISURE-FOCUSED
TRAVEL PRODUCTS
AND SUPPORTING
INFRASTRUCTURE
STABLE
FINANCIAL
PLATFORM
MUTUALLY SUPPORTIVE
BUSINESSES DRIVE
SYNERGIES
INTRA-GROUP
COOPERATION
OPTIMISES MARGIN
BALANCED MIX
OF DIRECT AND
THIRD-PARTY
DISTRIBUTION
FLEXIBLE PRODUCTS
AND INNOVATIVE
THINKING
A unied group
of businesses
Business model
Unlocking value
The four unied activities within
the Group Monarch Airlines,
Tour Operations, Monarch
Aircraft Engineering and Retail
and Online form a secure and
sustainable business model.
11
The Monarch Group
ANNUAL REPORT 2012
DIFFERENTIATED, HIGH-QUALITY
CUSTOMER PROPOSITION
The delivery of superior service
at equivalent price is the principle
underpinning the Groups businesses.
Across all divisions there is a focus on
continuing to deliver a high-quality
product proposition, including
superior customer experience at a
competitive price, and on reinforcing
these core strengths by maintaining
product diferentiation and improving
ancillary revenue generation.
FLEXIBLE PRODUCTS AND
INNOVATIVE THINKING
The Groups travel brands ofer
unique levels of choice and flexibility
for our customers and we continue
to provide innovative, convenient
and simplied solutions to enhance
their experience, including:
Monarch Airlines Airpacks
enable customers to build their
own booking.
Tour Operations provides the
flexibility of dynamic packages
with the service and security of
traditional holiday packages.
Monarch Aircraft Engineerings
innovative mobile App provides
customers with real-time
status updates.
LEISURE-FOCUSED TRAVEL
PRODUCTS AND SUPPORTING
INFRASTRUCTURE
Our Group is highly focused on
strengthening its leading positions
and the quality of its product
oferings in its principal market
of leisure travel, underpinned
by the strategically important
supporting activities of aircraft
engineering and retail and online.
MUTUALLY SUPPORTIVE
BUSINESSES DRIVE SYNERGIES
Intra-Group allocation of resources
transfers important knowledge
and skills across divisions and
drives both the implementation of
strategy and value maximisation.
BUILDING A STABLE FINANCIAL
PLATFORM
By maximising the value of the Groups
travel brands and supporting businesses,
while capitalising on intra-Group trading
opportunities, we are building a stable
nancial platform enabling us to also lay
the foundations for future growth. This is
underpinned by a sound and appropriate
framework for corporate governance.
BALANCED MIX OF DIRECT AND
THIRD-PARTY DISTRIBUTION
Our travel brands distribute product
through direct-to-consumer and
third-party trade channels, and
this combination optimises margin
performance and minimises risk.
INTRA-GROUP COOPERATION
OPTIMISES MARGIN
The sale of products and services
between the Groups mutually
compatible divisions is a source of
revenue and prot generation, and
de-risks development activity.
Monarch Airlines provides the
security of good quality, reliable
flying to support the Tour
Operations proposition.
Tour Operations provides structural
underpinning of demand for the
Airlines scheduled flying programme.
Monarch Aircraft Engineering
allows for a high operational
performance within the Airline,
supporting both the Monarch
and Cosmos travel brands.
12
The Monarch Group
ANNUAL REPORT 2012
Monarch Airlines
A unique market position
Established in 1968
Our distinct model is as a scheduled
leisure airline, flying principally to
short-haul destinations around the
Mediterranean, the Canary Islands
and destinations for winter ski. We
operate from six UK bases London
Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham,
East Midlands, London Luton and
Leeds-Bradford airports and ofer
capacity in 2012/13 of some
eight million sector seats.
Our scheduled leisure network
today operates across some
35 destinations and 112 routes.
13
The Monarch Group
ANNUAL REPORT 2012
39
Aircraft in 2013
8.3 m
Sector seats for 2013
9.0%
Growth in revenue per seat in FY12
Alysha Smith, Cabin crew
Group
provided
2011