Nicole Eaves, founder of Preston-based Garstang Travel – top travel agency in the TTG Top 50 Travel Agencies list – said customers had been giving Monarch a “wide berth over the past couple of weeks”.

“We’re holding on with bated breath. Our customers have been nervous, and some who usually fly with Monarch have been holding off booking anything with them.”

However, Eaves added: “I’m pretty confident everything will be sorted out.

Hopefully it will all be behind us soon. We’re really behind Monarch.”

Andrew Earle, owner of Andrew Earle’s World of Travel in Hull, said he was concerned by the “lack of clarity”.

“It’s the uncertainty that’s the killer at the moment. With our half-term bookings we’ve had to inform the clients about all their options and the possibility of using another airline as we’re trying to avoid problems for them,” he said.

“The trade really needs Monarch and we want to support it as it makes up 20% of our European charter business, but we have to do what’s best for customers and consider other airlines like Ryanair instead of waiting for Monarch.

We don’t want to put all our eggs in one basket.”

Operators were also keen to support the embattled group, but admitted to having concerns about its future.

Classic Collection managing director Nick Munday said he had a “couple of thousand” forward bookings with the airline, specifically for the forthcoming half term, Christmas holidays and spring half term.

He added: “We only book on an ad-hoc basis and we’ve not got massive numbers [with them]. We hope they pull through; we don’t want to lose the capacity they give us.”

Munday said Classic Collection would be protected by scheduled airline failure insurance in the event of a collapse, but admitted it would still be out of pocket should Monarch fail because it would need to book more expensive replacement seats in the wake of a failure.

“For all intents and purposes we don’t need to see the back of another airline and we desperately hope they pull through,” he added.

Meanwhile, JG Aviation Consultants owner John Grant said he was troubled by the timing. “The thing that concerns me more than anything is that it has happened in September – this sort of thing normally happens in February.

“To be in a situation which would imply they are running out of cash in September [is not good]. You need to be building up your reserves now. Whoever puts in the cash now will have to do so for the next 12 months, it is not a short-term thing.

“I hope Monarch does survive,” he added. “It is a brand that has been around for decades but more importantly it fills a gap in capacity in the market.”