Britain’s Monarch Airlines, which nearly went out of business a year ago, went ‘into administration,’ the UK’s version of bankruptcy Sunday, stranding about 110,000 vacationers overseas and cancelling the reservations of about 200,000 more.
The British government, through its Civil Aviation Administration, has chartered a fleet of planes that will bring back the stranded passengers over the next two weeks. Vacationers were told they would not have to shorten their vacations.
The airline, which specialized in carrying package-tour customers to warm vacation destinations, ceased all operations with the filing, which came after it was denied a renewal of its Air Travel Organizer Licence by the CAA. The ATOL license is needed because it provides a guarantee that travelers will not be stranded or charged additional in circumstances such as this.
Passengers who bought only tickets, and not packages, will not be so lucky. If tickets were bought with credit cards for over £100, the card issuer is responsible, but most Monarch flights were below that price and carry no compensation.
