Monarch sees jump in Greece and Turkey bookings

Independent UK tour operator Monarch Holidays has reported a resurgence in bookings to Greece and Turkey.

Gemma Day, the operator’s head of product and commercial, said demand for the western Mediterranean was still strong in line with the rest of the market but the eastern Med was “bouncing back”.

The airline-backed operator said its bookings to Turkey are up 90 per cent, with Greece up nearly 70 per cent, year-on-year.

Earlier this year, Thomas Cook revealed Greece had become its best-selling destination, with 2.5 million passengers already booked for this summer, an increase of 40 per cent on last year.

Day said Monarch’s Finnish Lapland programme had also performed well, with December sales up 24 per cent year-on-year.

Flights from Gatwick to Kittila in northern Finland were extended for six weeks during the winter 2016/17 season, something that will repeated for the 2017/18 season. Flights from Manchester will also be extended for winter 2017/18, with Day saying further accommodation options are being considered.

In February, Monarch Airlines launched four new routes for summer 2017 from Birmingham – to Split in Croatia, Valencia in Spain, Naples in Italy and in Greece.