UK airline set to relaunch flights – six years after shutting down
A UK airline which went into administration is set to return after six years.
Monarch Airlines was one of Britain's oldest airlines, launching in 1967.
However, the airline collapsed back in October 2017.
More than 110,000 passengers were stranded abroad, with hundreds of thousands of other future bookings affected.
Despite this, the airline could soon relaunch flights from the UK, as well as holiday packages.
A new social media account for the airline tweeted: "We’re working hard building a brand new Monarch, just for you."
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They added in another tweet: "Monarch Airlines Limited and Monarch Holidays Limited were yesterday passed into new ownership following the exit of the companies' founder and previous majority shareholder. More information will be forthcoming."
The airline has also launched a new website - letsmonarch.co.uk - along with Instagram and Twitter accounts.
The new chair of Monarch, Daniel Ellingham, told airline magazine he would "launch a new and strong company for the UK tourism sector".
He added: "There is an opportunity for newcomers such as ourselves to step up and meet demand."
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However, the new airline would be competing with Jet2 , easyJet and TUI, as well as the relaunched Thomas Cook.
There are no current details about when they could relaunch or how much flights would cost.
The airline has already attracted investors from both the UK and the EU, and is expected to contact the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in the upcoming weeks.
Don't expect flights this year though - it could take as long as 18 months for the airline to receive its licence to operate again.
When Monarch went bust back in 2017, it was the biggest peacetime repatriation programme at the time, costing £60million, although this was overtaken by the 2019 Thomas Cook collapse.
As many as 860,000 bookings were scrapped in what the Civil Aviation Authority called “the biggest ever UK airline failure” at the time.
The airline cited a number of reasons for its collapse, including a slump in the pound, increased fuel costs and terror fears affecting tourism in Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia.
It once carried as many as 6.3 million passengers to 40 destinations from Gatwick, Luton, Birmingham, Leeds-Bradford and Manchester airports.
As well as popular tourist hotspots such as Alicante and Rhodes, the airline also flew seasonal flights to Venice and Paphos.
It's not the only airline to have relaunched in recent years.
Flybe, who went bust in 2020, restarted flights in 2022 - only to go back into administration earlier this year.
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Budget airline PLAY launched last year, with cheap UK-US flights taking the place of WOW Air which went bust in 2019.
And Global Airlines is set to launch cheap transatlantic flights between the UK and the US.
