Tayside family caught up in airline woes

Monarch’s collapse has turned a local family’s holiday plans upside down.

A Tayside family of three were due to fly out from Manchester to Faro on Sunday with family friends on a holiday which had been booked since February.

But instead of a leisurely trip south, and a much anticipated reunion with other friends in the city before take-off, they are now heading to Portugal via ferry to Northern Ireland.

The working mum, who did not wish to be identified, said she was trying to remain positive.

“It has been a bit stressful, because I have been at work and could not do anything.

“But I keep telling myself, I don’t work for Monarch, I am not losing my job, and we are still going on holiday.

“This has been a bit of an inconvenience.”

It has also been quite an expensive inconvenience.

She estimated the family had shelled out an additional £300, but the family of five they are travelling with are around £600 out of pocket.

They are driving to Cairnryan, leaving their cars as it is cheaper to go as foot passengers, hopping on a ferry to Belfast, then getting a taxi to the airport.

“It’s a case of planes, trains and automobiles.

“I just hope we make all the connections,” she said.