MONARCH ON THE BRINK
Rescue plan for passengers drawn up amid fear 100,000 could be stranded abroad if airline collapses
‘Only a matter of days’
UP to 100,000 Monarch passengers face being stranded today with the airline on the brink of collapse.
The crisis-hit firm’s licence to sell package holidays was due to expire at midnight last night.
If its Air Travel Organiser’s Licence (Atol) is not renewed, it could quickly go bust.
Monarch’s website was accepting bookings last night, but prices quadrupled – essentially a bid to discourage people from buying tickets and getting stuck abroad.
Test bookings on Saturday suggested some flights were on sale for just £32 each way, but that had risen by £100 yesterday.
In anticipation of travel chaos, regulators have chartered ten planes to rescue British holidaymakers trapped overseas.
And the Foreign Office is mobilising extra consular staff at the 40 destinations served by Britain’s fifth biggest airline.
It is believed around 100,000 of Monarch’s customers may currently be abroad – of which 10,000 are on package holidays. A further 500,000 who have future trips with Monarch are in limbo, with the firm refusing to confirm their bookings are safe.
Hundreds of anxious customers contacted the airline yesterday but were told only: ‘ Our flights are operating as scheduled today. Any changes to the forward schedule will be communicated to all customers.’
Justin Scott, 46, was due to return from Turkey today with his mother Kathleen Peck, 66, who needs to undergo cancer treatment in Cornwall on Wednesday.
He said: ‘I’ve checked for alternative flights but we don’t want to go to the additional expense unless forced to.’
Elaine and Chris Greenhalgh, from Bolton, were supposed to fly home from Turkish resort Fethiye today with four-year-old grandson Niall, who has autism. His mother Siobhan Greenhalgh said: ‘My little boy should be in school on Tuesday. We’ve only got a week’s authorised leave so it’s not good.’
Nicola Gardner, 29, from Oxfordshire, who is due to start a new job on Wednesday, said: ‘Every day I miss, I’ll be losing wages. It’s just a pain … I want to know if I should make other arrangements.’
Monarch’s chief executive, Andrew Swaffield, wrote in an email to staff: ‘Please re-assure our customers. I know this is unset- tling and we will try to end this uncertainty as soon as we can.’
The Civil Aviation Authority has leased ten A320 aircraft from Qatar Airways to repatriate Britons if Monarch collapses. A Whitehall source said the CAA had to ‘beg, borrow and steal’ to assemble the emergency fleet so quickly.
Rival airlines have been circling, with British Airways owner International Airlines Group reportedly expressing an interest in acquiring some of Monarch’s take- off and landing slots, fleet and crew.
Last night the CAA was in talks with the loss-making carrier over whether to grant a new licence. The CAA can deny any carrier permission to do business if it believes it does not have the cash to keep going. Firms must renew their licence every year on October 1. As part of this process the CAA will study a firm’s accounts.
On Saturday, Monarch was given an emergency 24-hour extension to its licence to prove it could meet the regulator’s demands.
Without a valid licence, the airline, which flies six million passengers a year to 40 destinations, from several UK airports, would have to immediately stop offering, booking or receiving payments for package holidays.
Monarch executives spent the weekend scrambling to secure a massive cash injection.
If its funding runs dry, the company – which was set up in 1968 and employs 2,750 people – could fall into administration within days. Auditor KPMG has been lined up to manage the firm if it goes bankrupt.
A source close to Monarch said last night: ‘Rescue talks are going on all evening, but the feeling is that nothing will be announced tonight whatever the outcome.
‘However, if they don’t get the Atol matter sorted, it will only be a matter of days before the administrators take over.’
Monarch is understood to be in talks with rival airlines to sell off bits of its business. A spokesman said: ‘We are having positive discussions on a number of options with potential strategic partners.’
The CAA, which promised ‘daily updates’, declined to comment.