Monarch has gone into administration after failing to gain a renewal of its Air Travel Organiser’s Licence (Atol) from the Civil Aviation Authority. This meant it was no longer able to sell ATOL-protected holidays from midnight on Monday and KPMG as liquidators.
With other airlines circling the airline like vultures, who will help the stranded passengers during this catastrophe.
The transport secretary said the Department for Work and Pensions would give support to those affected and other airlines had already told him they may seek to employ Monarch staff.
A representative from KPMG, The official liquidators, said Monarch employees had not been told that the firm went into administration and advised them to go to work as usual on Monday. Will they get paid?
Advice to Monarch Customers – Act Now
- Customers in the UK yet to travel: Don’t go to the airport, the CAA says as your flights have been cancelled.
- Customers abroad: Everyone due to fly in the next fortnight will be brought back to the UK at no cost to them. There is no need to cut short a stay.
- Bookings after 16 October are unlikely to have ATOL scheme protection, so will need to make their own arrangements
- Customers currently overseas should check monarch.caa.co.uk for confirmation of their new flight details – which will be available a minimum of 48 hours in advance of their original departure time
- All affected customers should keep checking monarch.caa.co.uk for more information
- Passengers who are already abroad awaiting a Monarch flight home will be returned at no cost to them, by the government via one of more than 30 planes being chartered by the CAA.
- Helpline The CAA & the Department of Transport have also setup a 24-hour helpline: 0300 303 2800 from the UK and Ireland and +44 1753 330330 from overseas
What else do you need to know
If you bought a package holiday while the licence was still in – up until midnight on Sunday/Monday – you will be ATOL-protected. That means if you are abroad, you will be put on an alternative flight home with another carrier. If you are in the UK, you will be entitled to a refund.
It is unlikely you will be ATOL-protected. However, if you paid with a credit card and the cost was more than £100, the credit card company is liable and you can claim the money back.
The Civil Aviation Authority said it had launched a programme to bring back Monarch customers to the UK over the next fortnight on 34 chartered planes.
All Monarch customers who were due to return to the UK in the next two weeks would be flown home at no extra cost and did not need to cut short their stay, the regulator said. However, 300,000 future bookings have been cancelled.
Have you got a flight booked with Monarch? Are you Monarch staff? Email us at [email protected]
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