Monarch Airlines

Do Monarch not read their reviews? I note several where the lack of information is the complaint. Ours was not too bad but we were sat on the plane for 45 mins after our take off time with no information. Eventually one of the cabin staff showed herself so I asked why we hadn't left yet and was told it was due to air traffic control and our route was congested. Fine! Why did no-one bother to tell us? I suggested this to the stewardess who said "I will pass it up." Apart from that both flights were fine and the holiday/hotel through Monarch was excellent.

Travelled last night from Sharm El Sheikh to Birmingham. ZB0473. It was a total fiasco. Diverted to Venice for 30 min refuelling 'hop' only to discover crew out of hours. No replacement available and when it was the flight would not land at Birmingham but Luton. The result was a 7 hour delay overnight. Disgraceful service and 'suck it up people these things happen' attitude by Monarch pilots who couldn't tell a straight story between them. Have loved Monarch in the past but given them the benefit of the doubt now too many times. This airline doesn't deserve the loyalty of customers because it doesn't see them as people rather as 'bums on seats' and takes every opportunity to avoid responsibility. Would not recommend.

Manchester to Arrecife on 3rd January. Left pretty much on time. Clean tidy cabin and sufficient legroom for me (5ft 9). Pilot announcements were very informative and the crew were attentive and professional. Good selection of drinks/snacks. Flew return leg to Liverpool on 8th January with Easyjet. Monarch out-stripped them in every regard - particularly regarding the cabin crew - Easyjet need some lessons from Monarch going off this experience. Hadn't flown Monarch for some years but will certainly do so in the future.

I have just returned from Sharm el Sheik. The seats are terrible you can feel peoples knees in your back constantly because seats are so thin we had 3 children with us and had nothing but complaints from people in front because are kids were accidentally touching the seat in front it was a nightmare. also the hot snacks were awful I will never travel with Monarch again because of the new seats.

Birmingham to Sharm El Sheikh on an A321. The plane was immaculately new the staff were lovely and professional but the leg room is so bad. There are other budget airlines out there with much better leg room. All in all a quick 4 hour 50 minute trip down and an okay 5 hours 40 minutes on the way back but I am nearly 6 foot and it is quite trying on a near 6 hour flight with no entertainment and a 3 x 3 layout on a rather long medium haul flight. I like Monarch for the price and flexible flight times and I know they have suffered recently with the economy and cut backs it is a huge shame that Sharm El Sheikh Hurghada and Banjul is not served by bigger planes. I loved the Airbus A300 when they had it 3x4x3 configuration in the 90's. I would fly Monarch again but preferably Canaries or Cyprus would be my maximum range. Monarch are now your budget average low cost airline now and there are other competitive airlines out there.

Flew to Hurghada from Gatwick 02/12/2014 on ZB770. Return flight ZB771 30/12/2014. Check in at Gatwick took less than 5 minutes. We were granted our extra 5 kilos of hold baggage on production of our dive licences with out any problems. We departed on time had a superb Flight Crew and First Class Cabin Crew who were superb from take off to landing. Extra length seat pitch well worth fee. Return flight ditto only query in my flying days pax were fed the meal related to time zone of destination. We had breakfast at Gatwick hotel at 0500 a second breakfast in airport lounge (only meal available) and then to our amazement rotate wheels up then the most disgusting inflight breakfast we have seen. Meal on return awful! I felt so sorry for the Cabin Crew who had to serve in our opinion food not fit for purpose. Returning to review fantastic flight out/return.

Flew Alicante-Luton. Check in a breeze at Alicante and boarding was very quick. We took off 10 minutes early from Alicante which was great. Flight itself was full on an A321 and service was good as always. Cabin crew very friendly and captain kept us informed at all times. Great flight looking forward to the return.

ZB684 14th Dec from Manchester. ZB685 21st from SSH. Flew with Monarch this past week and got to say they were fantastic. Travelling with two under 5's isn't easy and it was our first time. On this particular flight you had to purchase meals from a trolley and provide your own inflight entertainment (iPad comes in handy). Hospitality and service was excellent. Would recommend.

Returned home from Innsbruck yesterday on a Ski flight that was delayed by 3.5 hours due to bad weather. Whilst waiting for our flight we spent the morning watching Thomas Cook easyJet and lots of other airlines coping with the conditions. Why not Monarch? We were given food vouchers but by the time they were handed out there was no food left in the cafes. We all queued whilst staff tried to cope making extra rolls only to grab the food and dash for the flight. The pilot told us the flight would be 1hr 40 mins. We finally landed after 2hours 10 minutes after spending at least 30 minutes circling Gatwick pity there was no communication from any of the crew. How difficult is it to keep the fare paying passengers informed. If only you had a choice of airline with package holidays.

Excellent airline travelled a number of times with them and never had any problems. Latest flight ZB7504 on 28/11/14 return ZB7505 on 12/12/14 34 mins early at TFS and 25 mins early on return to LBA. Great cabin staff and flight crew. Awaiting to book our next flight with Monarch.