The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Flights and holidays cancelled as airline goes bust
administration: Monarch’s demise affects hundreds of thousands of travellers
Travel firm Monarch has gone into administration, cancelling the flights and holidays of 860,000 people.
Some 110,000 customers overseas are being flown home in what the Government is calling the UK’s biggest peacetime repatriation.
A further three quarters of a million people held future bookings with the travel firm.
Monarch’s board called in administrators KPMG in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Administrators said 1,858 of around 2,100 people employed across Monarch’s airline and tour group had now been made redundant.
Administrator Blair Nimmo said the company had struggled with mounting costs and competitive market conditions that saw it suffer a period of sustained losses.
Passengers already abroad are being flown home at no extra cost.
Many are in popular holiday resorts in Spain and Portugal such as the Costa del Sol, the Algarve and the Canary Islands.
The Government has warned passengers to expect disruption and delays as it works to ensure there are enough flights to return the “huge number” of passengers.
Transport secretary Chris Grayling said: “This is a hugely distressing situation for British holidaymakers abroad and my first priority is to help them get back to the UK.”
Those who have not yet departed will receive a full refund if their booking was protected by the Air Travel Organiser’s Licence. If it was not, they may be able to seek compensation through their travel insurance or credit card company.
Many passengers turned up at airports yesterday morning ready to go on holiday only to find their flights were cancelled.
Some couples have had their wedding plans thrown into chaos as they struggle to find flights with other airlines for them and their guests.
CAA chief executive Andrew Haines said the regulator was notified by Monarch four and a half weeks ago that “there were issues they were dealing with ”.
He went on: “Unfortunately, we didn’t get final confirmation until 4am this morning and my understanding is that the board resolution to go into administration didn’t take place until close to midnight on Saturday night.”
Monarch was still advertising flights on its website on Sunday, meaning some passengers may have booked trips even after the company’s bosses decided it would stop trading.
Repatriation flights will match Monarch’s original schedule “as close as possible” although there will be some changes, Mr Haines said.
Administrators are now considering breaking up the company as no buyer has been found.
Monarch, whose headquarters are at London Luton Airport, was founded in 1967. The number of customers carried by the airline rose 14% in the last year but revenue was down £100 million, while adverse movement of the pound against the dollar had increased costs including fuel, handling charges and lease payments.
In a letter to staff, Monarch chief executive Andrew Swaffield said the “root cause” of the airline’s plunging revenues was terror attacks in Egypt and Tunisia, as well as the “decimation” of the tourist trade in Turkey.