NEWS 1


YOU NEED TO KNOW


Monarch’s Andrew


Swaffield appears on stage at The Travel


Convention last week, hours after securing £165m in funding to


renew the airline’s Atols


›Travel Convention news, pages 14-17


AT A GLANCE Monarch’s new Atols


l Monarch holds three Atol licences, covering its Monarch Holidays, Avro and First Aviation divisions.


l Operator Monarch Holidays is licensed to carry 244,250 people in the year to Sept 2017, including 99,665 in the summer quarter.


l From January, Monarch will “normalise” its relationship with Atol and stop having a licence for flight-only, a condition of the 2014 Greybull rescue. Monarch says this puts it on a par with other scheduled airlines.


CAA’s handling of Monarch case ‘needs official review’


Lee Hayhurst lee.hayhurst@travelweekly.co.uk


Monarch’s successful refinancing has led to calls for a review into how the Civil Aviation Authority handled the airline’s Atol renewal.


News that Monarch had secured


£165 million in new financing from its owners Greybull Capital was greeted with delight at Abta’s Travel Convention last week. But delegates said there needed


to be a review of the process that saw Monarch granted a 12-day Atol extension on September 30. The CAA was accused of


overreacting by sending back-up aircraft to Monarch destinations, at a reported cost of £10 million, should customers need repatriating.


This included a United Airlines


aircraft being stationed at Palma airport in Majorca, and CAA staff sent to resorts, fuelling rumours that Monarch was in trouble. Some trade partners are understood to have put Monarch on stop-sell and Monarch chief executive Andrew Swaffield admitted the publicity hit sales. Swaffield refused to comment


on the CAA’s role other than to say “the regulator has a job to do”. He insisted the airline “has enjoyed a great relationship with the CAA”. However, George Michalis, chief


executive of Olympic Holidays, said the situation raised concerns. “Monarch has done a brilliant


job. It’s good news for the industry,” he said. But he added: “There should be an official review into how it was handled. I think


4 travelweekly.co.uk 20 October 2016


“The CAA overreacted. Putting aircraft in exposed Monarch; that can kill a company”


the CAA overreacted. Putting aircraft in when there were negotiations happening exposed them. That can kill a company.” Vertical Group founder Peter


Healey agreed. “Had Monarch gone it would have been one more morale blow for the industry. “I understand what the CAA’s


role is, but they need to be asked some serious questions about how this was handled.” Richard Downs, chief executive


of Iglu, said Monarch’s survival was “fantastic news for the industry” but said being forced to play the


l First Aviation will see quarterly licensed passenger numbers fall from 400,000 to December to under 150,000 in the quarter to September 2017. Avro is licensed to carry 62,573 passengers.


crisis out in public could have changed the outcome. “It beholds the industry to look


at the process when companies go through critical times,” he said. “The CAA is a key stakeholder in the industry and, like any business, it should review its processes.” The CAA, which never confirmed


the shadow flying programme, said it would not “provide a figure on the contingency arrangements”. A spokesman added: “We


make a rule of not discussing the financial details of individual Atol holders and the situation with Monarch should be no different.” Miles Morgan, owner of Miles


Morgan Travel, defended the CAA saying it “has to do the right thing


to ensure customers are protected”. › Face to Face, page 10 › Comment, page 32


PICTURE: ARIF GARDNER


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84