Monarch has cancelled all flight and holiday bookings to Sharm el-Sheikh "for the foreseeable future".

The airline said it has received "no indication" from the Government about when it will allow UK flights to resume at the Egyptian Red Sea resort's airport.

Flights were suspended due to security fears following the suspected terrorist bombing of a Russian airliner in October last year.

Until then it was an important destination for the UK travel industry, with hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers visiting each year.

Monarch has cancelled all Sharm bookings for winter 2016/17 and has "no plans" to include the destination in its summer 2017 programme.

It will "re-assess flying there as a new route" if the airport is reopened to UK flights.

Monarch customers with existing flight and holiday bookings can re-book to an alternative destination free of charge or obtain a full refund.

Andrew Swaffield, chief executive of the company, said: "Much hard work has been done by the UK and Egyptian governments, along with the travel industry, to improve safety measures at Sharm el-Sheikh airport and it is very disappointing that it remains closed.

"If and when the airport does reopen then we will assess whether we start flights and holidays again."

Monarch's future was cast into doubt in recent months, with the firm forced to deny speculation that it was in financial trouble.

Hours before a deadline to obtain fresh funding or risk being unable to renew its Atol licence it announced that it had received investment from its owner, Greybull Capital.

Mr Swaffield told delegates at the annual convention of UK travel organisation Abta in Abu Dhabi last month that he was sitting in a tree during a safari in Botswana when he was told about the downing of the Russian plane and was left stunned.

"I nearly fell out of the tree," he said. "That was really the moment, at the end of October, when really it became clear that things were beginning to turn."

In June British Airways suspended flights to Sharm "indefinitely", saying that "the safety and security of our customers will always be our top priorities".

EasyJet and Thomson Airways have previously said they are awaiting for the Foreign and Commonwealth to change its travel advice, which currently warns against all but essential travel by air to or from the resort.