Nonrevs Beware..Monarch Air Cancels Flights, Sudden Bankruptcy
Britain is rushing to help more than 100,000 travelers get back to the country after it suffered its largest ever airline collapse.
"This is an unprecedented response to an unprecedented situation," British Transport Minister Chris Grayling said Monday, describing the measures following the sudden bankruptcy of Monarch Airlines as "the country's biggest ever peacetime repatriation."
All Monarch flights to and from the U.K. have been canceled. That leaves roughly 110,000 Monarch customers -- whom the airline was meant to fly back to the U.K. in the next two weeks -- stuck overseas, according to the country's Civil Aviation Authority.
The agency said it's organizing replacement flights to bring the travelers home, describing the crisis as "the biggest ever U.K. airline failure."
British transportation authorities said they are chartering more than 30 planes for the repatriation flights, creating "a temporary airline from scratch that would be one of the U.K.'s biggest carriers if operating permanently."
The collapse also affects 750,000 people booked on future flights or vacations with Monarch, a budget airline that flew to dozens of destinations around Europe and the Mediterranean.
The aviation authority has set up a special website to help affected customers at monarch.caa.co.uk. It also told people in the U.K. with plane tickets not to go to the airport, stressing that "there will be no more Monarch flights."
Related: Ryanair in retreat: Cancels more flights, drops Alitalia bid
The chaotic situation prompted angry and anxious posts on social media.
"Thanks @Monarch - that's our Christmas holiday stuffed," tweeted Pauline Bennett, who lives in northwestern England.
