Gemma Antrobus, owner of Haslemere Travel, said that flights looked at on Monday had been “coming in at silly money”, especially on the routes Monarch offered to European destinations.
“I know it’s a case of supply and demand, but it’s not very helpful,” she told TTG. “I’m hoping someone can snap up the routes so we can start getting back to normal pricing… one easyJet booking was in the thousands.”
On Sunday, Niall Douglas, managing director of Full Circle Travel, reserved one of his customers a space on a British Airways flight to Madeira when Monarch prices started skyrocketing and he “realised something was going on”.
“The next day it had gone up by £400,” he said. “I’m sure there’s an element of conscious decision-making from the airlines in that.”
Douglas added: “Some operators have been great with rebooking and adding no cost where they can… others have been less proactive.”
He also said there was a lot of crossover between Monarch and Ryanair’s bases and routes, which – with the cancellation of thousands of upcoming Ryanair flights – was adding an extra strain.
At the time of Monarch’s collapse
- 300,000 future bookings
- 110,000 customers overseas
- CAA and government secure 30 aircraft flying to 30 airports for repatriation
- 2,100 staff – 1,858 subsequently made redundant (some retained to aid KPMG administrators)
- Monarch Aircraft Engineering is not in administration and continues to trade
