Monarch Airlines

Well done Monarch - these are the most comfortable economy class seats I have experienced in a long time. Thomson/Thomas Cook please copy.

If you have to fly economy you could do worse than this. That said at 5'9" and heavy on the hips I found the seats very narrow and the legroom appalling. If you use this company definitely get aisle seats where the layout changes from 3x3x3 to 2x3x2 at the rear. These have a good couple of inches more room than their counterparts throughout the rest of the plane. Makes a huge difference. As for being able to make the brace position in any seat absolutely impossible even for a child. You get what you pay for and I didn't pay very much so can't expect the royal treatment!

We opted for extra legroom seats and got 10 b/c each way - these are just by the main door so have unlimited legroom - well worth the upgrade as the normal Monarch seats are painful and I wouldn't fancy 5 minutes in them never mind 4 hours which is what some people had to endure.

We thankfully paid for extra legroom seats on both legs of our short journey to alicante and were in row 13 EF outbound and 10 DE inbound. The legroom on the inbound was flight was better than some premier economy seats and there were only 2 seats together. Looking at the economy standard seats I wouldn't fancy even 30 minutes in them.

I have flown many hours with many airlines but never in such discomfort as on these flights from Manchester to Cyprus return. I am 6 ft of slim build and it was impossible to position my legs in the normal forward position. When the person in front reclined and I didn't it was impossible to use the seat back tray. It was impossible to achieve the brace position which makes a mockery of Monarch's pictorial display on its safety video. I will not fly Monarch again until I see that they have made an effort to provide adequate room for the normally proportioned and I advise others to think very carefully unless they are of small stature.

Ruined an otherwise perfect holiday to the Maldives. 11 hours of sheer misery interrupted by meals which you could not eat because your elbows were tucked into your armpits and by trollies trying to sell you overpriced Pringles! I'm 6'2 and my wife is 5'10.

Unless you are a child get in early and pay for the extra legroom option. It's also extra face room too because if the person in front reclines you will be suffocated by the back of their chair! I am surprised these are legal seat pitches but they say they are! I paid the extra and it was worth it even for a short flight.

Row 13 C/D/E : paid for extra legroom which was excellent but there is a toilet on the right hand side and many travellers = cut across our seats from the left side. Cabin crew suggested we put our hand luggage on the floor as a mild deterrent - which did not work. Finally the crew chief put out a series of announcements telling people not to cross at row 13 and the other rows which had gaps - most people observed this firm request.

Seats near front of cabin with immovable arm rests and integral tables are unusually narrow though leg room is reasonable. My wife could not fit in these seats due to the narrowness. Seats further back were tighter on leg room.