Monarch saved

Greybull Capital has agreed on Friday (24 October) the purchase of Monarch Airlines for a nominal sum.  The deal involves pay cuts of up to 30% for staff and many redundancies.  (see BTN 29 September)

Greybull acquired 90% ownership interest in the company, with the remaining 10% passing to Monarch's defined pension scheme and ultimately the Pension Protection Fund. 

The Civil Aviation Authority has renewed Monarch's ATOL licence.

Under the new arrangements, the fleet will be "optimised" from 42 aircraft to 34, and long haul and charter flying will end by April.  The network will specialise in Monarch's "heartland" of scheduled short haul European leisure routes.

Staff have agreed reductions in pay of up to 30%, with more than 90% of unionised staff voting to accept changes, and 700 redundancies, two-thirds of which were voluntary.

The airline has been owned by Swiss Fabio Mantegazza family since its inception in 1967.  Greybull and the Mantegazza family are between them committing a further £50m in capital.

Jim McAuslan, General Secretary of the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA), said: "Monarch's continuing presence in the marketplace is good for customers so this new investment is welcome.  We have met with the new owners and look forward to working with them to secure quality jobs in a strong and growing company.  www.monarch.co.uk

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