Monarch airlines - gatwick to skiathos via kavala - b757-200
Hello and welcome to this flight report!
In this report we shall be going back to August 2014, on a flight to Skiathos in Greece via Kavala Greece from London Gatwick.
The aircraft operated was on board a very old Boeing 757-200 by Monarch Airlines.
These photos were taken just at the start off when I decided to start recording my flights.
So this report will be fairly short and not have as much photos included.
Lets begin!
We start our day fresh and early at 7 am,
already passed through security and into departures waiting area.
Already the airport is well into a busy summer morning rush.
Now looking back on these photos, it is crazy how the airlines at Gatwick have changed since 5 years ago.
Thomson Airways 757-200, easyJet A320 in the famous carrot livery and Titan Airways 757-200
This one special photo is off a British Airways 737-400 registered G-DOCN.
I flew on this aircraft the year before to the channel island Jersey.
Soon enough it was time to board, I was given seat 28A at random.
Very rare now these days do we find boarding tickets that have colour!
The aircraft used for this flight was registered G-MONJ aged 26 years old as off the time flying. This B757-200 was also the 170th aircraft out off 1050 built by Boeing.
Interesting fact, the ITV show Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway used G-MONJ to fly the shows contestant winners for a free holiday at the end of the series show in early 2014.
Sadly in January 2015 G-MONJ was withdrawn from service and scrapped in October 2015.
We made our pushback on time passing an old Thomas Cook 757-200. You can see how old the aircraft is by the condition of the wing.
We made a quick departure along the runway, across the Kentish coast of England and over towards France.
Most off the journey over central Europe was sadly overcast clouds and couldn't see much off the land below.
This 757-200 was in a 3-3 configuration with several screens located above the aisle, although the IFE was never used.
Seating was really comfortable with the classic old styled fabric cushioning and the leg room was very spacious.
The seating even offered the old radio system located on the armrests, but sadly it didn't work either.
I was glad that half the aircraft was empty, which gave me the choice to stretch out across a row and hop around to look out other windows.
After a 3 hour nap, we started to make our first landing into Kavala,
which is located in the mainland off Greece to drop off/ pick up passengers.
We made a very fast bumpy landing into Kavala, which is located in the middle off nowhere….Everything is flat!
To my surprise there was a very very old cargo Lockheed L-1011 Tristarcargo aircraft parked up next to a fellow Monarch A320 and a Cyprus Airways A320.
The Lockheed Tristar once belonged to the Cargo airline Kitty Hawk. According to internet resources it has been abandoned here in Kavala since 2005 and still is to date!
Sad to look at all the photos as both airlines have now shutdown.
We parked up and immediately started to de board a handful off passengers who are staying in the Kavala area. Then within a few minutes three passengers boarded to fly back home to Gatwick.
One member off crew pushed down two seats behind for a disabled passenger that was boarding.
It was interesting to see how the chairs folded down.
After a quick turn around and aircraft checks, we made our next flight to Skiathos which was just under 20 minutes.
Only reaching altitude off around 15,000 we started our landing into Skiathos, but had to circle around until the runways was clear for landing.
The pilot circled over one off the locations off the movie Mamma Mia, the church.
Not long after we got clearance to land, flying over beautiful coastlines off the island Skopelos.
Flying into Skiathos was absolutely stunning!
We made a smooth landing onto the runway then took a slow left turn towards the terminal.
Our flight was the only one in at the time.
After all the passengers left I was lucky enough to to visit the cockpit.
The 757 cockpit is simply the best!
Shortly after the tour off the cockpit we made out way to passport control and collected my bags.
We then boarded the coach bound for the hotel.
Sadly the coach driver accidentally crashed into a street lamp!
Luckily no one was injured from this incident.
Apart from this the flight was brilliant!
It is a shame to see Monarch Airlines end, but I am glad and grateful for the flights I had with the airline. Did you ever have the privilege to fly with Monarch? leave a comment below on your experience with the airline!
Thank you for reading! If you like to read other reports by me, visit my profile page to see many more.
The next report will be about a small airline called Blue Island Airlines, operated by an ATR 72 from Southampton to channel island Guernsey.
Until then, keep flying and smiling! :D
thanks for the archives !
Thanks for this nostalgic trip report!
You're spot on about how different LGW was even just 5 years ago, as were so many airports. So much more diversity in airlines and aircraft than nowadays and the coming years/decades.
Thanks for this trip report.
Ah man! What an amazing report, absolutely loved reading this! I flew Monarch on four flights (two trips) but I never flew the B-757.