Monarch relaunch grounded as funding runs out

A bid to revive the Monarch brand has been grounded, less than two weeks after it was announced on social media.

The original Monarch Airlines collapsed six years but on August 19, a post on X, previously Twitter, indicated that Monarch Airlines and Monarch Holidays had passed into unspecified new ownership “following the exit of the companies’ founder and previous majority shareholder”.

A website was established on letsmonarch.co.uk as well as social media channels including LinkedIn and Instagram. The X and Instagram accounts appear to have been deleted.

More: Monarch revival teased on social media

On Thursday afternoon (August 31), the website announced: “A statement from our Board: It is with immense regret that we announce today that we have been forced to put the brakes on our process to relaunch Monarch.

“This is not a decision that we have taken lightly, however since taking over the business two weeks ago we have drawn close to exhausted the start-up funding provided to us far more rapidly than anticipated.

“We have been seeking alternative routes, such as partial divestment of share capital, and will continue to do so, however at the current stage there is no practical option to move forward in the immediate future.”

The Monarch Travel Group failed in October 2017 owing £466 million, leading to the UK’s largest peacetime repatriation flying home more than 85,000 holidaymakers from overseas at a cost of £60 million.

Monarch Airlines flew from bases at Luton airport, Gatwick, Manchester and Leeds-Bradford, carried six million passengers a year and employing 2.100 staff.