Thousand delayed by Monarch plane problems

A recent Monarch Airlines flight into Manchester Airport faced technical problems that resulted in delays for at least four flights out of the airport. Some 1,000 passengers were affected all together as the airline scrambled to get the plane fit for the skies. Of those, 350 passengers spent the night in Terminal 1.

The plane that was to take Monarch Airlines’ flight from Manchester to Dalaman Turkey experienced a problem with its hydraulic system. The flight was scheduled to depart at 22:30 but could not. As a result, passengers booked on the flight had to spend the night in the departures lounge.

It took staff members eight hours to fix the problem. Meanwhile passengers did their best to get comfortable in the departure lounge with the refreshments and blankets provided by airline staff. The plane finally took off at 7:15 the next day.

Other flights were also affected. Monarch Airlines has stated that the same airplane was to fly passengers to Crete. A total of 355 passengers waiting for that flight were also delayed.

A spokesperson from the airline said: “This flight was due to depart at 9:45am today, but will probably now leave at 5.20pm.” Those passengers were taken to hotels. “We were unable to put the Dalaman passengers in hotels overnight because of delays to other airlines,” she said.

The problem with planes caused a nine-hour delay for a further 203 passengers booked to fly to Corfu with Thomas Cook airlines. They were placed in hotels near the airport in Faro.

www.flights.monarch.co.uk