After the biggest UK airline collapse in years, the administrator of the bankrupt Monarch Airlines has struck a deal with the International Airlines Group (IAG) over slots at Gatwick airport, valued by experts at over €68 million.
Monarch Airlines, also known simply as Monarch, was a British charter and scheduled low-cost airline The airline’s headquarters were at Luton; in addition, it had other bases at Birmingham, Leeds/Bradford, Gatwick and Manchester.
The sale has sparked outrage among passengers left stranded or without holidays by the airline collapse, the majority of whom are yet to receive any flight compensation, which according to SKYCOP should total €291 million.
After a favorable decision by the court, the administrator of the bust Monarch Airlines, KPMG, signed a sales deal with IAG, owner of the UK’s flag carrier British Airways, over airport slots at Gatwick International Airport. This deal fulfills the long-standing British Airways’ goal of expanding its presence at one of the major European aviation hubs, however, KPMG has not yet reported whether the estimated €68 million will go as far as handling the debts of Monarch Airlines.
Giedrius Kolesnikovas, a partner at law firm Motieka & Audzevicius, says the best practice of bankruptcy administration shows that first and foremost, the administrator should settle debts with airline employees and deceived passengers, before switching to creditors and suppliers.
“The contract goes to show that the administrator is doing everything in its power to gather capital. However, employees and stranded passengers are yet to be compensated for their moral and physical struggle and have been left waiting” explains G. Kolesnikovas.
Since Monarch Airlines has gone bankrupt, the flight disruption and compensation process are handled outside of the renowned EU 261 law, which would have seen all 860,000 passengers entitled to travel compensation. Nevertheless, flight compensation company SKYCOP has already contacted the administrator and the UK’s CAA in order to ensure that the IAG deal money goes straight to compensating passengers.
“According to the administrator, almost 2000 of Monarch Airlines’ redundant employees are due to receive the money they are owed, which is great. However, hundreds of thousands of passengers have seemingly been pushed aside after they were rescued from abroad by the UK authorities,” says Marius Stonkus, CEO of SKYCOP.
“According to our estimates, if the EU law applied in this case, the passengers would be receiving over €291 million to make up for all of the stress, panic and moral struggle these travelers have been through.”
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