I am having a pleasant holiday on the Algarve, having flown here with Monarch, to Faro.

This was my first time with Monarch, although I had heard good things about them. I can now say that I also have a positive view.

I turned up at Gatwick, for my early morning flight. Check-in was routine, and I proceeded to the departure lounge.

I didn't know what sort of plane it was going to be, but was expecting a small one, such as an A320. However, when I boarded, it was huge! It was an A300B, my first time on one of those. The inside of the plane was very smart and clean, having a blue and yellow decor.

Unfortunately there was a delay when two of the passengers didn't show, and their luggage had to be traced and offloaded. This took about 15 minutes, but the Captain kept us fully informed, and we were soon being pushed back.

We taxied down to the western end of the runway for takeoff. There was a queue, but we were soon under way with a smooth, but powerful takeoff.

The weather was pretty well perfect for flying, and there was little or no turbulence. We turned right after takeoff, crossing southern England, Southampton and the Isle of Wight, climbing to 33,000 feet, and then flying out across the Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay.

The flight seemed to go very quickly. I had not ordered a vegetarian meal, but they had one for me when I asked. The flight deck kept us informed of progress, and it wasn't long before we were descending over Portugal, with a nice landing in Faro.

My only slight negative comment was the lack of legroom, but I am 6ft 5ins, so I have this problem quite a lot, and Monarch were no worse than anyone else. This is a great holiday airline.