2 Oct, 2017 @ 10:52
1 min read

Over ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND Brits left stranded abroad as Monarch ceases trading and cancels 300,000 bookings

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AN estimated 100,000 British tourists have been left stranded abroad after Monarch ceased trading today. 

The British airline has been forced to cancel 300,000 bookings while 2,100 people will be out of a job.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has been asked by the Government to charter more than 30 aircraft to bring the passengers home.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said it is Britain’s  ‘biggest peacetime repatriation’ effort.

CAA chief executive Andrew Haines said the decision to stop trading would be ‘very distressing for all of its customers and employees’.

“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,” said Haines.

“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.”

Monarch customers who are due to return to the UK in the next two weeks will be flown home, the regulator has promised.

The flights will be at no extra cost to passengers and they do not need to cut short their stay, the CAA said.

Passengers have been warned to expect disruption and delay as the government works to make sure there are enough flights to return the ‘huge number’ of passengers.

 

Grayling said: “I have immediately ordered the country’s biggest ever peacetime repatriation to fly about 110,000 passengers who could otherwise have been left stranded abroad.

“This is an unprecedented response to an unprecedented situation. Together with the Civil Aviation Authority, we will work around the clock to ensure Monarch passengers get the support they need.

“Nobody should under-estimate the size of the challenge, so I ask passengers to be patient and act on the advice given by the CAA.”

Laurence Dollimore

Laurence Dollimore is a Spanish-speaking, NCTJ-trained journalist with almost a decade’s worth of experience.
The London native has a BA in International Relations from the University of Leeds and and an MA in the same subject from Queen Mary University London.
He earned his gold star diploma in multimedia journalism at the prestigious News Associates in London in 2016, before immediately joining the Olive Press at their offices on the Costa del Sol.
After a five-year stint, Laurence returned to the UK to work as a senior reporter at the Mail Online, where he remained for two years before coming back to the Olive Press as Digital Editor in 2023.
He continues to work for the biggest newspapers in the UK, who hire him to investigate and report on stories in Spain.
These include the Daily Mail, Telegraph, Mail Online, Mail on Sunday and The Sun and Sun Online.
He has broken world exclusives on everything from the Madeleine McCann case to the anti-tourism movement in Tenerife.

GOT A STORY? Contact newsdesk@theolivepress.es or call +34 951 273 575 Twitter: @olivepress

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