Monarch Airlines Passenger Reviews and Monarch Airlines Customer Trip Reports

Gatwick to Venice and back for a weekend break. On time, nice plane, polite staff, what more do you need.

4 hr delay from Malaga to Birmingham, second time in as many months had this trouble. Will not be booking Monarch again. Could not move in seat, so squashed and felt like person in front was on my lap. Get your act together Monarch you used to be reliable!

LGW-MXP, Sep. 10th. A321 aircraft, not very new but comfortable. Easy boarding and fast check-in. No food onboard, unless paid, but the fares are acceptable. It was my first time with ZB and I really enjoyed it, and I found the overall service better than BA and U2. It's a pity that they'll discontinue their flight from MXP. I would definitely fly again.

UK to Turkey. Outward delayed 2 hours then delayed further as cabin door would not close, meaning arrival at destination near midnight. Seat was awful with metal bar pushing into back. Return flight delayed 2.5 hours, arrived UK after midnight and incurred extra parking charges. Seating very cramped and I was bumped into every time one particular steward passed by. Seated away from my partner. In all a nightmarish experience.

Booked flight and seats well in advance, East Midlands to Malaga, Sept 25th returned Oct 8th and wasn't informed that we were not flying with Monarch - only found out we were flying with Small Planet when boarding. Seats booked online 1A/B as my wife is disabled. We were asked to move by a Serviceair staff member with apologies as we should be able-bodied to use those seats, moved to second row E And F. Seat adjuster broken, no change when we returned. Looked forward to flying on as Monarch aircraft ended disappointed.

We flew from East Midlands to Alicante on a Small Planet Airlines 737-300 on 11th October 2012. The aircraft was nearly 24 years old and still carried the Norwegian red nose livery. The drop down tables were so worn that when I put my drink down it ended up in my lap as it was at about 20 degrees out of level. The aircraft was very tired and the cabin was somewhat distressed. The toilets had certainly been well used and not that well cared for. The crew and cabin staff were all Lithuanian and struggled to understand what a gin and tonic was. The crew announcements were faint and inaudible. When I book with Monarch I want to fly with Monarch. Not a good experience!

Sunday 7th October, 7 hour delay. Checked in on time 14.00 hrs for 16.30 to Majorca only to be given a sheet of paper informing us of a severe delay (again due to "technical reasons"). Given a meal at SAS Radisson hotel at 18.00 but like a cattle market trying to feed 300 aprox at one sitting. Finally got away just after midnight. My main gripe is this has been going on for weeks now according to various sources, so why have Monarch made no attempt to lease in a replacement aircraft. Just unbelievable that they are content to bumble along with constant delays etc to the annoyance of their customers. I will not now book any holiday that involves using a Monarch aircraft.

My wife and myself returned on a Monarch flight from Rome to Birmingham on 15/10/12 after a 4.5hr delay. Again like previous reviews Monarch used a Slovakian airline using an old 737-400. The reasons given for the delay was first of all they did not have enough fuel so we had to disembark, then when we get back on to move about 20 metres and then the fight crew say they have a technical problem i.e. a problem with the steering. So we wait on board for a further 2 hours then are told it was only a minor problem & we can take- off. The only thing we got as an apology was a cup of tea/coffee. This particular flight is always late from Rome, perhaps if they delay it they get a cheaper slot or am I being a bit cynical. I have travelled with Monarch many times but that will be the last.

We had to wake up at 5am only to find that Monarch had had to find another aircraft from Netherlands and there was a 4 hour delay which they had known about days before our flight. No attempt to advise us of this. Our return journey was delayed 5 hours thus not arriving at out hotel room until 2.30am. Thank goodness we were not having to drive. Seats cramped, spare economy plus seats but they wanted £40 for anybody to use them. Customer service non-existent.

Birmingham to Rome, flight ZB 5409, 15th October 2012. A nightmare of trip. Aircraft was Air Explore. Firstly captain decided not enough fuel after sitting for 1 hour in plane - did he not know before? Only occasional communication to passengers. Disembarked and kept in terminal for 1 hour then re-embarked, then developed technical fault on taxi. Surely the fault must have been noticed after landing at Rome! Flight landed 5 hours overdue. Plane was very old 737-400 and dirty with broken seats. Captains management of the whole situation was at best extremely poor and worrying. Stewardess's English was poor, talked in their own language and dress code left a lot to be desired. Seem not to have any concern for passengers, many of whom were extremely concerned about the events. Landed 5 hours late. No effort on flight apart from a free cup of tea and no food apart from snacks which had to be purchased. Why Monarch continue to use Air Explore after all the bad reports and incidents is ludicrous.

Booked well in advance to fly on a Monarch plane to Malaga 10th October, I am a nervous flyer and in the past have found Monarch excellent. I was upset to have found out just before boarding we had been transferred to their sub contracted airline but told my return flight was a Monarch plane. The plane was old and cramped, a passenger in front adjusted her seat before take off and the arm came off in her hand. The return journey from Malaga was delayed by 4 hours and was again with the sub contracted airline, a 6 euro voucher for food given out, no information as to the reason for the delay. Watched Ryanair take off like clockwork!

Booked to travel East Midland to Malaga out 7th October 2012 return October 14th 2012. I was advised with to 2 weeks to go that Monarch had substituted the place to Lithuanian Charter plane. The crew advised the plane was well over 25 yrs old. I was on the back row, the seats in front were broken so the next row were almost on our lap. I didn't have enough room to eat my food, staff tried to move me but the only vacant seats (3) were also broken. Never again. The crew were okay but the plane - I'd rather walk.

Birmingham - Rome on time both ways and courteous service. Replacement airline on way out was Air Express and attentive service from them too (not heard of them?). Would have been even slicker on way back but for passengers getting to gate at the very last minute whilst remaining passengers stuck on the transfer bus for 15 minutes waiting for them. Overall a very good experience for a low price, no frills airline.

Gatwick-Tenerife regular flyers. Surly ground staff, regular delays and technical hitches resulting in late arrival of the bags at the carousel, last minute change of planes resulting in loss of extra legroom seats, then having to wait ages for a refund. After the last four return flights all of which have been affected by the above. I am trying Easyjet with whom you can now reserve seats.

Booked flights and paid for premium seats 9 months in advance. On our return journey, Monarch changed aircraft and when we checked in we're told that the seats were not available - and the family had to be split up. Children had to be separated. As the other seats available were near the door, they could not be on these. My partner was given a tiny emergency seat cramped in. No one apologised. We wrote to Monarch on return but never heard back. Have emailed as well and no response. The only reason why I book Monarch is to get these seats - cost us 200 extra.

My wife and I travelled from Manchester to Sanford on 28th September, and returned on 5th October. Both flights took off on time, the cabin crew were as good as any airline, good food and attentive service.