Just booked with Monarch.
Thought I'd check the hand baggage allowance afterwards. Good job I did.

Whilst other Airlines seem to have become a bit more flexible, Monarch seem to have bucked that trend!

They are now only allowing 5Kg weight. That's half of Ryanairs etc allowance!!

My bag is nearly 2Kg empty.

Has anyone been caught. Are they really that strict?

Just for the record, I made a mistake.
5Kg allowance is for charter flights.
Still 10Kg for scheduled.
Panic over!

you have to be so careful with luggage, you buy for an element of protection even for the cabin but pay the price because of the case weight.

a couple of friends had huge argument with Ryanair staff and almost got kicked off the flight - they weighed the contents before putting in the case

Phew, you had me worried there. I'm flying with them soon.

Monarch to keep Gib flights & jobs following restructure

Author: GBC

Date: 28 October 2014 at 12:22

Gibraltar will not be affected by a Monarch Airlines restructure which will see seven hundred redundancies and eight aircraft retired from the fleet.

The airline has gone through major changes in the last two months following the takeover by Greybull Capital LLP, but will be keeping all its European short haul links, including Gibraltar.

In late September, the Monarch Group announced the Mantegazza family, the group’s main shareholders, had sold their stock to Greybull Capital, a multinational investor company. Just one day later, staff groups voted to support restructuring plans which would evolve Monarch into a European low-cost airline.

This will mean dropping long-haul flights, and retiring eight Boeing 757 aircraft. Original forecasts showed potentially 900 redundancies, which were then cut back to 700. These will be predominantly cabin crew aboard these long-haul aircraft.

The good news for Gibraltar is that short-haul destinations won’t be affected, and neither should the links between Gibraltar and the UK. A spokesperson for the company confirmed to GBC that Gibraltar is a popular destination for Monarch, and the company plans to build on Birmingham and Manchester as central hubs. Monarch currently offers flight links between the Rock and those two airports.

The airline is also currently considering expanding routes which only fly twice a week so that clients can make the most of weekend travel.

GBC | Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation

From next spring Monarch are to start flights to Alicante from Leeds Bradford, this is a first for them. More to the point it can only be good for passengers, at the moment only Jet2 (home hub) and Ryanair fly from Leeds to Alicante. Monarch joining the fray might bring down both of their prices.