Article from BTNews 27 NOVEMBER 2017
Monarch can sell its slots
In a boost for creditors of collapsed airline Monarch, administrators last week won an appeal against a court decision that had stripped the company of rights over valuable airport slots, said to be worth up to £60m.
The appellants say they now hope to raise capital by transferring the slots at Gatwick and Luton airports to other airlines. Part of the earlier ruling that Monarch must return slots at Manchester and Birmingham remains in force.
Joint administrator Blair Nimmo said: “We are delighted with the ruling. We will now progress the slot exchange transactions we have under way, whose buyers will be announced at completion.”
Monarch went out of business overnight last month, with the Civil Aviation Authority having to step in to organise the repatriation of more than 100,000 passengers overseas.
EasyJet, International Airlines Group (IAG), Wizz Air and Norwegian are among carriers that have expressed interest in the slots at the London airports, although some have dismissed the £60m figure as unrealistic.
Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate said the level of demand for the assets revealed during the legal battle showed “there is significant pent-up demand for European and long-haul routes”.
He told the Telegraph: “That gives us even more confidence in our case for expansion.”
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