UK's Monarch Airlines ceases operations, thousands stranded

Reuters Staff

 

An empty check-in desk for Monarch Airlines is pictured at Gatwick Airport, London, October 2, 2017. Robson Smith/Handout via REUTERS

 

(Reuters) - Britain’s Monarch Airlines [MONA.UL] ceased operations on Monday, forcing the authorities to initiate their biggest-ever peacetime repatriation effort to bring back tens of thousands of travelers stranded overseas.

 

Monarch became the UK’s largest carrier to go into administration, cancelling about 300,000 future bookings.

 

The British government has asked the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to charter more than 30 aircraft to bring back to the UK about 110,000 Monarch customers currently overseas, the CAA said. bit.ly/2wsQ5rQ

 

Tough competition has been pressuring European airlines and driving consolidation, with Air Berlin and Alitalia filing for insolvency this year and seeking new investors for parts of their businesses.

 

“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,” said Blair Nimmo, a partner at KPMG and a joint administrator of Monarch Airlines Ltd and Monarch Travel Group Ltd.

 

The collapse will be a headache for some of the world’s largest leasing companies, which financed its current fleet of 36 mainly Airbus (AIR.PA) jets, and for Boeing Co (BA.N), which has sold the airline 32 of its 737 MAX aircraft. None of the planes has yet been delivered.

 

Although relatively small compared to Europe’s leading scheduled carriers, Monarch had been a regular hotspot in the global battle for market share between planemakers as it shifted its loyalties between Airbus and Boeing.

 

Boeing secured Monarch’s agreement to revert back to its jets in 2014 following a fierce contest against Airbus and Bombardier.

 

“We are working with the joint administrators and the CAA to do everything we possibly can to help minimize disruption where we can, but are under no illusion as to the problems this will cause,” Monarch Chief Executive Andrew Swaffield told employees in a message.

 

“And many suppliers will suffer hugely as a result of our insolvency – for which I am equally sorry.”

 

Monarch said its companies that entered into administration include Monarch Airlines, Monarch Holidays Ltd, First Aviation Ltd, Avro Ltd and Somewhere2stay Ltd.

 

Monarch had previously said it was talking to potential partners after a report that parts of its short-haul network would be sold.

 

Reporting by Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru; Alistair Smout in London and Tim Hepher in Paris; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-10-02

Monarch appeared to be the go-to airline for cheap package holidays, but increasingly outflanked by Ryanair and Easyjet selling directly to passengers.

The airline has been a mess for a number of years. Also heavily exposed on routes to Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey. Wouldn't be surprised if Eazyjet try and get a few aircraft, crews and routes as both airlines operate Airbus a/c. 

I saw one of their airplanes parked on the tarmac at Chiang Rai Airport a few years ago.

 

I remember thinking that's a long way from home, I wondered at the time what it was doing there.

Edited October 2, 20178 yr by JAG

"Now Everyone Can Fly"

 

Fat heads!

 

I blame Laker!

 

People don't even dress properly these days! Peasants.

Edited October 2, 20178 yr by Grouse

 

the headline is inaccurate and misleading, no one is stranded because in the UK the CAA is set up to deal with situations like this and has arranged for 19 other carriers to provide the flights more or less as to the monarch schedule so everyone will get home as planned.

 

i'm guessing it's a reuters piece headlined by a thai sub editor; more quality thai journalism. whoever posted this from thaivisa should pay more attention to quality control.

Last month I flew from Manchester to Lisbon on Monarch. Good service at a reasonable price. It is sad to see that they have gone out of business.

 

1 hour ago, samsensam said:

 

the headline is inaccurate and misleading, no one is stranded because in the UK the CAA is set up to deal with situations like this and has arranged for 19 other carriers to provide the flights more or less as to the monarch schedule so everyone will get home as planned.

 

i'm guessing it's a reuters piece headlined by a thai sub editor; more quality thai journalism. whoever posted this from thaivisa should pay more attention to quality control.

 

Whether it's in the headline or elsewhere in the article, Reuters reported exactly what the OP headline says (http://www.reuters.com/article/monarch-airlines-licence/refile-monarch-airlines-ceases-operations-flights-cancelled-caa-idUSFWN1MD006).  Nothing to do with Thaivisa's "quality control" or your view of "quality thai [sic] journalism".