Taxis hit by failure of airline
AIRPORT taxi services in Hinckley were immediately hit by the sudden collapse of Monarch Airlines.
All flights were cancelled as the operator dramatically went into administration, early in the morning of Monday October 2.
David Lord runs Smart Price Airport Taxis Hinckley, and had cancellations for 15 return bookings to Birmingham airport the day after.
He said: “Most people only book their taxi a couple of weeks before the flight, so it’s instantly reduced my workload.
“It’s a big impact as I’m only a small business.”
Mr Lord set up his business in March, working previously for A1 Taxis Hinckley.
He added: “I’ve been calling round to double-check upcoming bookings.”
“Some customers offered to still pay me, but I can’t expect that if I haven’t provided the service.
“A lot of customers said they are trying to find alternative bookings with other airlines.”
Russell Kew who runs Burbage Airpot had 31 cancellations for October and November the morning after the announcement, representing a loss of around £2,500 in business.
He said: “I have got 16 customers currently on holiday with Monarch - I have made contact with them all to assure them that we will be there for them when they get back.”
Around 110,000 Monarch customers are believed to have been stuck abroad with the government calling on the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to begin the largest repatriation of UK residents in peacetime.
The CAA said the first rescue flights had already been arranged to return stranded tourists.
Mr Kew said: “Six lots of my customers have been repatriated in the last 24 hours. The CAA are doing a brilliant job.”
The collapse of Monarch came a day after the airline increased the prices of tickets four-fold in an apparent bid to deter new customers booking flights.
Passengers already at airports were unable to check in for their flights and were sent away from airports.
A string of flights from Birmingham Airport were cancelled.