LONDON: British authorities are scrambling to bring home 110,000 travelers after Monarch Airlines collapsed Monday, canceling all flights by what had been Britain’s fifth biggest carrier.
The Civil Aviation Authority said it has leased 30 aircraft to transport Monarch customers scattered around holiday destinations ranging from Turkey to Spain and Sweden. Flights will be provided at no additional cost to passengers.
“This is a hugely distressing situation for British holidaymakers abroad, and my first priority is to help them get back to the UK,” Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said in a statement. “That is why I have immediately ordered the country’s biggest ever peacetime repatriation to fly about 110,000 passengers who could otherwise have been left stranded.”
Monarch ceased operations after failing to reach a deal with regulators to extend the company’s license to sell package holidays to overseas destinations. Monarch Chief Executive Andrew Swaffield said the airline’s troubles stemmed from recent terror attacks in Egypt and Tunisia and the “decimation” of the tourist trade in Turkey.
The airline had tried to pivot from short-haul flights to long-haul travel to reduce losses as consumers shied away from Middle Eastern and North African destinations after the June 2015 attack on tourists at a resort in Tunisia, the bombing of a Russian airliner that had taken off from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, a few months later and the attempted coup in Turkey in 2016.
The CAA is advising Monarch customers who are trying to get home from abroad to visit the agency’s website for information about their flights. Passengers who were preparing to leave the UK on Monarch flights should not go to the airport.
The first repatriation flight carrying 165 passengers from the Spanish resort island of Ibiza has already arrived at London’s Gatwick Airport, the aviation authority said.
“The scale and challenge of this operation means that some disruption is inevitable,” agency CEO Andrew Haines said. “We ask customers to bear with us as we work around the clock to bring everyone home.”
Monarch’s collapse represents the biggest ever failure of a British airline.
The Unite union, which represents around 1,800 engineers and cabin crew working for Monarch, claimed that the government rebuffed requests to provide a bridging loan that would have helped the airline keep operating.
The airline said companies affected by its failure include Monarch Airlines, Monarch Holidays, First Aviation, Avro, and Somewhere2stay.
“All future holidays and flights provided by these companies have been canceled and are no longer operating,” the company said.
Greybull Capital, which owns The Monarch Group, issued a statement saying it was “deeply saddened” by the airline’s failure. It said it was working with regulators to minimize disruptions.
— REUTERS
Monarch chief blames collapse on terror attacks
Monarch chief blames collapse on terror attacks
Talks underway with Saudi Arabia on higher oil flows: Pakistani oil minister
RIYADH: Pakistan is in talks with Saudi Arabia to increase the flow of petroleum products to the country in order to serve shared economic interests and secure Islamabad’s growing energy needs, Pakistani Oil Minister Ali Pervaiz told Al-Eqtisadiah.
Pervaiz said that Pakistan, as a net energy importer with a bill ranging between $15 billion and $20 billion, seeks to strengthen its strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia in the energy and mining sectors and looks forward to benefiting from the Kingdom’s vast hydrocarbon potential.
Speaking on the sidelines of his participation in the Future Minerals Forum hosted in Riyadh, the minister said the timing of the event is ideal given the pivotal stage the world is going through and the rising demand for vital minerals amid ongoing technological development.
He noted that the conference represents a vital platform for discussing opportunities to establish new mines and mobilize the capital needed to operate them, particularly as production from existing mines declines and price volatility increases due to global conflicts, making international cooperation an urgent necessity for the stability of this vital sector.
Regarding bilateral relations, Pervaiz stressed that ties between Riyadh and Islamabad have reached unprecedented levels of strength and depth, citing the numerous meetings between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which he said have exceeded 12 since Sharif took office three years ago.
He added that there is a clear governmental mandate for working groups in both countries to build a comprehensive framework for economic cooperation, with a particular focus on the mining sector, which he described as one of the main pillars of future projects currently under review.
The minister said Pakistan is expecting to host a high-level Saudi delegation at the Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum 2026, scheduled for April, noting that the event is expected to see the signing of several agreements and memoranda of understanding aimed at advancing cooperation in geological studies and mining sector development.
He added that work is underway with the Saudi side to implement tangible projects on the ground, strengthening the existing partnership, which spans multiple areas, including ongoing defense cooperation, further consolidating the two countries’ position as strategic partners in the region.
