A programme has been launched to bring home thousands of passengers left stranded abroad after Monarch airlines went bust.
The airline announced last night (Sunday) they were ceasing business with immediate effect, cancelling all future flights with no chance of rescheduling.
All outbound flights are cancelled with passengers advised not to turn up at airports, while work gets underway to bring home customers already abroad.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) say there are currently an estimated 110,000 customers overseas, while there are in the region of 300,000 bookings cancelled.
The Government have asked the CAA to charter more than 30 planes to bring back UK Monarch Airlines customers.
Andrew Haines, chief executive of the CAA, said: “We know that Monarch’s decision to stop trading will be very distressing for all of its customers and employees. “This is the biggest UK airline ever to cease trading, so the Government has asked the CAA to support Monarch customers currently abroad to get back to the UK at the end of their holiday at no extra cost to them.
“We are putting together, at very short notice and for a period of two weeks, what is effectively one of the UK’s largest airlines to manage this task. The scale and challenge of this operation means that some disruption is inevitable. We ask customers to bear with us as we work around the clock to bring everyone home.”
