Monarch Airlines folds, leaving over 100,000 passengers overseas

Monarch Airlines (Monarch), established in 1967 and the U.K.’s fifth-largest airline, has ceased operating with immediate effect, leaving over 100,000 passengers to seek alternative return flights to the U.K., while the cancelation of 300,000 flights will affect approaching 750,000 other customers. Throughout 2017 the beleaguered carrier has struggled to remain solvent after posting a loss of £291 million (US$387 million) in 2016.
In 2014 Globus Travel Group sold Monarch Holdings to Greybull Capital, a private investment company specialized in turning around ailing businesses, subsequent to which the carrier ended long-haul and charter operations, instead concentrating on short-haul leisure routes. However, the combination of a number of negative events saw a change in Monarch’s financial fortunes after making a profit of £27 million (US$36 million) in 2015. These included what the U.K.’s Transport Minister, Chris Grayling called a “price war in the Med”, as well as rising fuel prices, a weak pound and reduced demand due to political unrest and a number of terrorist attacks in Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey.
The announcement of the end of Monarch came at 4am U.K. time when no Monarch airplanes were airborne. The U.K. government has asked the Civil Aviation Authority to charter 30 aircraft to enable what has been described as the biggest peacetime repatriation to take place. Passengers waiting to return home are located as far away from the U.K. as Tel Aviv, Israel.
Last year Monarch flew 6.3 million passengers to over 40 destinations from airports at Gatwick, Luton, Birmingham, Leeds-Bradford and Manchester airports. The airline, based in Luton, employs approximately 2,100 staff and has a fleet of one Boeing and 34 Airbus jets. With 45 Boeing 737MAX aircraft on order, the airline had planned to transition to an all-Boeing fleet beginning in 2018.
The collapse of Monarch has already proved beneficial to a number of rival airlines, with share values in easyJet and Ryanair rising. Whether this situation may also prove to be of further benefit to Ryanair remains to be seen after the Irish low-cost carrier recently had to cancel 18,000 flights over 34 routes during the next five months owing to a pilot shortfall and foul-up over staff holidays.