Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has called the collapse of airline Monarch into administration an “unprecedented situation” that calls for an “unprecedented response”.
Mr Grayling said that the Government was working with the Civil Aviation Authority to build a temporary airline from scratch that would be one of the UK’s biggest carriers if operating permanently, in order to bring home those stranded in the wake of the airline’s collapse.
“This is a hugely distressing situation for British holidaymakers abroad - and my first priority is to help them get back to the UK,” he said in a statement issued by the Department for Transport.
“That is why 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,” he added.
He said that the Government would work “around the clock to ensure Monarch passengers get the support they need”.
“Nobody should underestimate the size of the challenge, so I ask passengers to be patient and act on the advice given by the CAA.”
Administrators were appointed to Monarch on Monday. Approximately 110,000 travellers are currently abroad on trips booked with the company with no flight home.
Separately, speaking to speaking to BBC 5 live, Mr Grayling said that “Monarch has been a victim of a price war in the Mediterranean” and that he had “hoped up until the last few days that discussions with other airlines would help secure Monarch’s future."
