Passengers at Manchester Airport among those stranded as Monarch folds

Dozens of passengers at Manchester Airport due to go on holiday this morning were left trying to find alternative flights as Monarch announced it was cancelling all flights as the airline ceased trading.

Monarch made the announcement in the early hours which came too late for around 30 passengers at Manchester’s Terminal 2 who had already made the journey to the airport and were left stunned when they were handed leaflets informing them their flights wouldn’t be going ahead.

Passengers who are flying in from abroad are being given alternative flights with over 3000 people expected to be brought back as part of a mass operation to get everyone back.

Victoria Weir from Urmston is one of the passengers who was due to fly in from Spain she shared this picture of an update she'd just been handed as she waited for a flight home at the airport.

The Civil Aviation Authority issued a statement this morning:

Andrew Haines, Chief Executive of the CAA, said:

“We know that Monarch’s decision to stop trading will be very distressing for all of its customers and employees.

“This is the biggest UK airline ever to cease trading, so the Government has asked the CAA to support Monarch customers currently abroad to get back to the UK at the end of their holiday at no extra cost to them.

“We are putting together, at very short notice and for a period of two weeks, what is effectively one of the UK’s largest airlines to manage this task. The scale and challenge of this operation means that some disruption is inevitable. We ask customers to bear with us as we work around the clock to bring everyone home.

“We urge people affected by the company’s collapse to check our dedicated website monarch.caa.co.uk for advice and information on flights back to the UK. It also gives information to those passengers that have future bookings with Monarch but are yet to leave the UK.”