The UK’s biggest peacetime repatriation operation is under way to return 110,000 Monarch Airlines customers after the airline collapsed into administration.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said it had been asked by the Government to charter more than 30 aircraft to bring the passengers back to the UK after the airline’s board called in administrators KPMG in the early hours of Monday morning.
The collapse, the largest to hit a UK airline, has left some 300,000 future bookings cancelled and customers have been told to keep away from airports as there will be no more flights.
Passengers are urged to check a dedicated website for advice.
Administrator Blair Nimmo said Monarch, which employs around 2,100 people across its airline and tour group, had struggled with mounting costs and competitive market conditions that saw it suffer a period of sustained losses.
CAA chief executive Andrew Haines said the decision to stop trading would be “very distressing for all of its customers and employees”.
Affected by the #Monarch collapse? Check our dedicated website https://t.co/Ja7tguLOZJ for advice and information on flights back to the UK. pic.twitter.com/VqkJEkJV6D
— UK CAA (@UK_CAA) October 2, 2017
“We are putting together, at very short notice and for a period of two weeks, what is effectively one of the UK’s largest airlines to manage this task,” he said.
“The scale and challenge of this operation means that some disruption is inevitable. We ask customers to bear with us as we work around the clock to bring everyone home.”
The regulator said all Monarch customers who are abroad and due to return to the UK in the next two weeks will be flown home.
Monarch customers in the UK: don’t go to the airport. There will be no more Monarch flights. This page will no longer be monitored. pic.twitter.com/hzfQGZ0Ty8
— Monarch (@Monarch) October 2, 2017
The flights will be at no extra cost to passengers and they do not need to cut short their stay, the CAA said. New flight details will be available a minimum of 48 hours in advance of customers’ original departure times.
The Government has warned passengers to expect disruption and delay as it works to ensure there are enough flights to return the “huge number” of passengers.
Commenting on the “extraordinary operation”, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: “I have immediately ordered the country’s biggest ever peacetime repatriation to fly about 110,000 passengers who could otherwise have been left stranded abroad.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
“This is an unprecedented response to an unprecedented situation. Together with the Civil Aviation Authority, we will work around the clock to ensure Monarch passengers get the support they need.
“Nobody should underestimate the size of the challenge, so I ask passengers to be patient and act on the advice given by the CAA.”
The CAA had been expected to announce on Monday whether Monarch would be able to continue selling package holidays.
We're sorry to announce that Monarch has suspended flights and holidays. Please check https://t.co/buw8yPzDGY for further information. pic.twitter.com/CA6jdMLu1C
— Monarch (@Monarch) October 2, 2017
The low-cost airline and holiday company had a deadline of midnight on September 30 before its Air Travel Organiser’s Licence (Atol) expired.
The firm was granted a 24-hour extension until midnight on October 1, but that also passed without any announcement of a renewal.
Mr Nimmo said: “Mounting cost pressures and increasingly competitive market conditions in the European short-haul market have contributed to the Monarch Group experiencing a sustained period of trading losses. This has resulted in management appointing us as administrators in the early hours of this morning.”
An operation to return 110,000 Monarch Airlines customers is under way after the airline collapsed into administration (Dave Thompson/PA)
Customers affected by the company’s collapse have been urged to check a dedicated website, monarch.caa.co.uk, for advice and information on flights back to the UK. A 24-hour helpline is also available on 0300 303 2800 from in the UK and Ireland, and +44 1753 330330 from overseas.
Monarch, whose headquarters are at London Luton Airport, was founded in 1968.
The group’s engineering operation, Monarch Aircraft Engineering, is not in administration and continues to trade normally.
UK travel firms selling holidays and flights are required to hold an Atol, which protects customers with pre-booked holidays from being stranded abroad in the event of circumstances such as the company ceasing to trade.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel