Hucknall man's birthday plans almost scuppered after airline collapses

Some 300,000 bookings have been cancelled as a result of the company’s collapse, and customers have been told there will be no more flights.

Dominic Toplis, 27, of Hucknall, booked to go to Tenerife on Saturday, October 7, with a friend to celebrate his birthday.

But to his surprise Dominic woke up on Monday, October 2, to find that his flight leaving from Birmingham on Saturday had been cancelled by the airline.

He and his friend had to fork out £75 each to catch a flight from rival Jet2 in Leeds to make sure he could still get on holiday.

He said: “I booked the flight a couple of months ago, but I have wondered if I was going on holiday or not due to the Ryanair situation.

“Yesterday I read Monarch could collapse, and then it was confirmed this morning, it just threw a spanner in the works.

“Luckily I managed to sort out another flight with Jet2 to get us out there, but I don’t know if I’ll be getting a refund or not.

“It’s awful timing really as I was going to celebrate my birthday.

“It hasn’t helped with the Ryanair cancellations too, as that is who we are flying back with next Tuesday - we’ve been in limbo.”

Ryanair have just released a second wave of flight cancellations affecting 400,000 people.

Dominic said he was taken aback when it was announced that Monarch was on the verge of collapsing - and said he was confused to see the website still selling flights last night.

He added: “I thought they would sort it all out. I have flown with them to Florida before so know how big they are.

“I’m just so shocked about it, how has this been allowed to happen? I have had no communication from them at all, I’ve been looking at Twitter for help.

“The whole situation is a mess.”

Customers affected by the company’s collapse have been urged to check a dedicated website for advice and information on flights back to the UK.

It also gives information to those passengers that have future bookings with Monarch but are yet to leave the UK.

A spokesman said: “We are sorry to inform you that all future holidays and flights booked with Monarch are now cancelled as of 2 October 2017.

“If you are booked on a Monarch Airlines flight, please do not go to your UK airport, as your flight will not be operating.

“Further information is available at monarch.caa.co.uk/customers.”

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