70% of UK Holidaymakers Desperately Seeking sun Getaways Reveals Monarch

September 1, 2009

LUTON, England, September 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite the reported growth of the 'staycation', the poor British weather this summer has once again fallen foul of people's expectations and in a desperate attempt to catch some sun, a recent online survey by http://www.monarch.co.uk has revealed that 70% of UK holidaymakers are now planning to book a late holiday deal and travel abroad.

The poll, which ran on http://www.monarch.co.uk, asked visitors to the site if the bad British weather had influenced their holiday plans this year. 47% responded 'yes' and confirmed they would now be booking a late holiday deal, whilst a further 23% answered 'yes' and stated that they were now planning on going away later in the year. Only 30% of all respondents agreed they love the rain and the weather has had no impact on their UK holiday plans.

Commenting on the results of the poll, managing director of Monarch Flights and Holidays, Liz Savage said, "We've experienced strong bookings for both flights and holidays already this summer, with load factors on scheduled flights reaching a staggering 90% in August and late holiday bookings up 32% vs Summer 2008. The results of the poll clearly indicate, however, that a huge number of holidaymakers who have holidayed in the UK this summer are now planning to travel overseas to take advantage of some fantastic late deals and guarantee themselves some sunshine before the grey winter months set in."

Monarch has a host of fantastic late summer deals still available including flights to Malaga and Majorca from only GBP34.99 one way and seven-night holidays to Menorca from only GBP159 per person and to the Algarve from only GBP215 per person.

Monarch operates scheduled flights to Spain, Gibraltar, Portugal and Cyprus from Birmingham, London Gatwick, London Luton and Manchester airports. In addition to year-round low fares, Monarch also offers a unique range of tasty hot and cold meals onboard, with prices from GBP3.00. To enable customers to select where in the cabin they sit and ensure that families and groups sit together, seats can be pre-booked at GBP7.50 per one-way flight, or from only GBP15, extra-legroom seats are available, which offer up to six inches of extra space.

Passengers travelling on scheduled flights can also avoid the queues at the airport and take advantage of online check-in, which is available between seven days and 4.5 hours prior to departure.

In addition to flights, Monarch also now offers a huge range of great value holidays, accommodation options, car hire and travel insurance.

For further information or to book Monarch flights, Monarch Holidays or Monarch Hotels, please visit http://www.monarch.co.uk.

Notes to Editors

The poll ran on http://www.monarch.co.uk between 04 and 25 August 2009. A total of 1071 responses were received.

Monarch Airlines operates scheduled and charter flights from a number of UK airports, including Manchester, Birmingham, London Luton, and London Gatwick. Scheduled flights operate to destinations throughout Cyprus, Spain, Gibraltar and Portugal, whilst charter services operate worldwide.

In addition to cheap flights (http://flights.monarch.co.uk/), Monarch also now offers a huge range of great value holidays ( http://holidays.monarch.co.uk/) and accommodation options which can all be booked via a one-stop-shop, monarch.co.uk. These include Greece holidays (http://holidays.monarch.co.uk/destinations/Greece) and many more amazing destinations.