Monarch to refund those with ATOL protection

Monarch passengers with Air Travel Organiser’s Licence (Atol) protection should receive refunds within 28 days of making a claim, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has announced.

The CAA is braced for around 32,000 claims from holidaymakers after the airline collapsed last week, with total Atol refunds estimated to cost around £21 million.

But it emerged on Tuesday that the vast majority of the 860,000 people who had flights and holidays cancelled will not receive an automatic refund, with administrators KPMG estimating that just 10-15 per cent of customers have bookings protected by Atol.

The scheme only covers package holidays or Monarch flight-only bookings made before 15 December.

The CAA said customers, or their travel agents, with Atol protection will receive a claim form by 11 October, with most claims expected to be processed within 28 days of receipt.

CAA chief executive Andrew Haines said: “We recognise there are many thousands of Monarch customers who will be bitterly disappointed that their holidays have been cancelled. Those who bought a package holiday from Monarch are Atol protected.”