MONARCH FLIES ON AFTER £165M CASH INJECTION
Hit by turbulence within the airline market Monarch Airlines have just had a huge injection of cash from their largest backer in order to keep the name flying.
The airline has been one the UK’s best known charter type airlines since they started back in 1968 but with recent cut back in passenger numbers on some of their popular routes they have suffered an overall decline.
Monarch employ over 2,800 staff from their Luton HQ.
Flying to locations like Egypt, Turkey and North Africa all of these places have had a huge drop in passengers, mainly because of terrorism concerns by those flyers.
The airline sits in a middle row of the airline market perhaps not the best place to be currently?
Monarch planes at Gatwick Airport.
On one side the low cost operators such as Easyjet and Ryanair and on the other side larger tour operators such and Thomson/TUI and Thomas Cook who now fly there own aircraft to popular destination themselves.
Monarch has announced the biggest investment in its 48year long history, a £165 million investment from its majority shareholder, Greybull Capital.
MONARCH CAN FLY ON !
This means the investment in Monarch allows for the successfully renewal of its ATOL licences from the CAA for the next 12 months and allow for proposed growth plans.
The licence is crucial; as the airline cannot fly passengers without it, as it guarantees that passengers will be compensated should the company fail.
Passengers board a Monarch plane in The Gambia a route they no longer fly.
Back in October in 2014, the airline announced an order for 30 Boeing 737 MAX-8 aircraft, with options for a further 15. The first aircraft is due to be delivered in 2018.
The company say that: “The arrival of these state-of-the-art, fuel efficient aircraft in less than two years’ will enable Monarch to continue to provide passengers with a best in class inflight experience and allow the company to enjoy significant operational cost savings”.
Andrew Swaffield, Chief Executive Officer of The Monarch Group
Andrew Swaffield, Chief Executive Officer of The Monarch Group, commented: “It is testament to the extensive effort by all parties, over the past weeks and months, that we are able to announce the largest investment in our 48-year history, as well as the renewal of our ATOL licences.
“I’d like to thank the CAA, our shareholders, partners, loyal customers and the team at Monarch for helping us to achieve this successful outcome. We are now firmly focused on the future as a stronger Monarch.”
Monarch cabin crew safety brief before take off.
The airline is based at Luton and employs 2,800 staff and savings in the operation of the new aircraft can be as high as 20% over the ones they currently use. With fuel priced and paid for in dollars and sterling at a low point costs are of great concern to them currently.
However if they can find a new slot in the airline passenger market then Monarch could be flying high once again only time will tell?
