Selected passengers will be rewarded for their polite behaviour with extra leg room seats – offering up to 15% more space and with a value of more than £100 for two people – as well as priority check in.

The airline is giving its customer services staff the power to give away a certain amount of free upgrades to extra leg room seats and priority check in each week, subject to availability.

The initiative, which covers a total of 10 upgrades or priority check-ins a week, comes as Monarch seeks to “promote the traditional values of courtesy, chivalry and respect” which its staff pride themselves on as reflected in recent TV advertising, the airline said.

Nils Christy, chief operating officer, said: “We are often described as the nicer airline and holiday company and we pride ourselves on this. Our customer services staff are already nice – now they can reward those who are positively nice to them too.

“Everyone benefits from niceness. Planes depart more punctually, staff and customers are happier and it improves the travelling experience for everyone.”