Whilst it is no longer an unspoiled and unknown treasure, Nerja (about an hour from Malaga by car) has until now really only been accessible from Leeds Bradford Airport with Jet2 or Ryanair.

As a result of the lack of competition to Malaga – the closest airport to Nerja – and other holiday hotspots such as Naples, Jet2 Holidays has effectively had a monopoly on package holidays from Leeds. The lack of competition hasn’t been conducive for good pricing for families. This could all change now that Monarch has decided to expand its operations out of Leeds Bradford Airport.

Groups such as Cosmos who work with Monarch Airlines will now be able to offer more holidays to popular destinations. For those looking to create their own holidays, the new flight only options from Monarch should encourage both Ryanair and Jet2 to make sure they don’t try to squeeze that much more money out of tourists and ex pats who use the routes.

Leeds Bradford Airport desperately needs its expansion plans to come in sooner rather than later to increase the viability of the airport. The commitment of Monarch to expand its routes shows that Leeds Bradford airport is still capable of maybe one day rivalling Manchester as the northern airport.