Monarch Airlines

Return LGW-ACE in June - outbound delayed 2 hours by French ATC strike so not Monarch's fault - return on time. Booked extra legroom which is really essential but with that the service is very good - no hassle and friendly staff - much prefer Monarch to any of the others but the extra legroom is necessary doubt I could cope in the standard seating.

Travelled with Monarch from Dalaman 18 June 2013 to Leeds Bradford Flight number ZB7535 and vice versa 8 June flight ZB7534. Excellent plane very clean and modern. Staff really good. Well informed. Everything we needed. Comfortable. Only negative was too many kids running round as plane half empty was a real nuisance and not relaxing.

Birmingham-Alicante 9/6/2013 return 15/6/2013. Good old Monarch is back! Flights on time clean aircraft and very friendly crew.

Return flight ZB 655 Malaga to Manchester 12/06/2013. Flight delayed owing to French strike approximately 2.5 hours on arrival at Manchester after a good flight waited 1.75 hours for baggage there was no explanation of the delay other passengers of different flights collected their baggage without problems as many as 6 flights arriving after our flight were cleared before we were able to collect our baggage. There was nobody about to who we could discuss the problem which seamed to be a lack of supervision resulting in a 4 hour total delay which cannot all be lay at the feet of Monarch but in the circumstances shows a lack of care for customer service.

Went to Cyprus 19 May from Leeds Bradford on new aircraft seats did not recline and no inflight entertainment. Was told by staff that Monarch class the 5hr flight short haul. Return journey my seat did recline but my friends didn't work.

Flew Manchester - Preveza 2 June and return 9 June. Charter Flight (MON 5642 and 5643) but incredibly expensive as not many flights to this airport that serves mainly Parga and Lefkada in Greece. By the time you add on luggage fee sitting together fee meal fee (if wanted) and upgrade to more legroom fee (if wanted) it is prohibitively expensive - thank heavens Olympic are adding two flights from the UK soon so should bring prices down. Relatively clean and tidy A300 with cheerful FA's. Be warned - the 3-3-3 seating plan meant that seats were very narrow. On the plus side the flights were on time despite only a 2 hour check in window at Preveza - a very rural Greek airport! A far cry from a scheduled Monarch flight to Gibraltar a few years ago that was a real delight.

Gatwick to Sanford 23/05/13. Have flown to Orlando on quite a few occasions with different airlines with nothing to complain about at all. This was our 2nd trip with Monarch booked online with cosmos. By far the cheapest package holiday to Florida on offer giving basically the same deal as their competitors. We did upgrade to premier but still found them to be cheaper than other economy flights. The staff were great they went about their work efficiently and considering they are dealing with around 300 people we would not expect them to walk around with a beaming smile on their faces all the time. Leg room In Premier is plentiful the entertainment is not so good due to the inadequate ear pieces solution - take your own. All in all we would and will fly Monarch again.

Travelled with my father to Barcelona from Birmingham for the Spanish Grand Prix in May. Birmingham airport was a dream with short queues at security and helpful staff. Used the executive lounge to get away from the crowds and would recommend this for some relaxing time before a flight. Boarding on time and the A321 was clean and tidy as it was the first flight of the day. We were in row 1 as we paid for legroom. On the flight out the crew left a lot to be desired. The purser was sour faced and seemed frustrated with the new crew member shadowing her. Service took an eternity to commence and some confusion when I tried to make it easier on change by giving a note plus coins in order to save their pound coins. Ended up with hands full of coins instead of what could have been a note and 2! Flight was quick and smooth with good info from the captain. Return leg left late with not much info in Barcelona airport as to why. Thankfully the cabin crew on the return were much happier and the service was very smooth. I would use Monarch again but only if extra legroom is available.

Booked through Monarch and lead to believe this was the company we was flying with but this was not the case when our paperwork was received. Monarch was not the company they passed over to a company called Small Planet Airline. This was not clear when booked and only apparent when the paperwork was received. We have currently been delayed 18 hrs with no news. Our aircraft arrived but the crew were non existent which is apparently why we are waiting still. No news handled terribly.

My partner and I flew from Manchester to Faro for a 3 night break. The flights both outbound and inbound left on time with no hiccups. Although the Monarch Airbus A300 provided ample legroom the seats were very restricting and with me being on the curvier side were very uncomfortable. The arm rests do not move so for the duration of both flights I felt rather like a sardine! Come on Monarch just one more thing to get right for your budget short haul flights!