Derbyshire honeymoon couple's Monarch flight misery after 4am text

A Belper honeymoon couple got a shock 4am text saying their flight to Italy had been cancelled.

Rebecca and Jake Farrell have been left stuck in Manchester after their 6.45am flight to Naples was cancelled due to airline Monarch going into administration.

The couple, who got married on Friday, planned a romantic getaway in Italy for eight days before disaster struck.

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Rebecca, 29, said that she received a text message at 4.10am on Monday telling her not to go to the airport but she originally believed that it was a scam.

She said: “We didn’t think that it was legitimate but we were already in Manchester so we thought we’d go and check it out. We came to see everyone in the airport acting hectic.

“The information desk was completely blocked with people and airport staff were all around trying to give out information with numbers to contact.

“There were a lot of tears around, with one woman who was distraught that she saved up so much to go on holidays with her children.”

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Jake, 26, an events organiser, said that he thought that the experience was “soul crushing” but said they were one of the lucky ones.

He said: “Because our flight was so early, we were able to get to rebook and sort out our holiday fairly quickly unlike hundreds of other people at the airport.

“You go from being so happy and excited to something that is completely soul-crushing.”

Rebecca and Jake were staying in a Manchester hotel until they can catch another flight to Naples, and expecting to fly out on Tuesday. It has cost them £100 and their new flight has cost them £200. The original break cost £1,000.

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Around 410,000 customers are affected by Monarch Airlines going into administration, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has said.

This includes 110,000 who are currently abroad and 300,000 with future bookings.

The Luton-based carrier went into administration early on Monday.