Monarch Airline Shuts down; cancelled 300,000 bookings

Britain’s biggest Airline Monarch Airlines cancelled nearly 300,000 future bookings. Chris Grayling, transport secretary said that the company fell victim to a price war over flights to the Mediterranean and told customers not to come to airports.

Monarch apologized to customers and staff as it became the UK’s largest carrier to go into administration. It is the biggest ever failure of a British airline, lakhs of travelers were left stranding.

“I am so sorry that thousands now face a cancelled holiday or trip, possible delays getting home and huge inconvenience as a result of our failure,” Monarch Chief Executive Andrew Swaffield told employees in a message.

“I am truly sorry that it has ended like this.”

“We are doing our best to make sure that those people who are stranded and can’t get back otherwise will be able to do so,” he told BBC television, adding that he expected many of Monarch’s more than 2,000 staff to get jobs elsewhere.