Resurrection of Monarch Airlines fails to take off

Plans to resurrect Monarch Airlines six years after it failed have collapsed due to a lack of money.

A company named Monarch Airlines Limited launched a website and activity on social media earlier this morning, pledging to “usher in a new era for one of the UK’s favourite travel brands”.

But on Thursday, a statement from its board read: “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 (sic) 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.”

This was just one day after Daniel Ellingham, chairman of the new company, wrote on LinkedIn: “We are redesigning Team Monarch alongside our strategic brand partner to bring a new and ‘Great British’ crown to UK skies.”

It is not known who was investing in the business plan.

When the original Monarch collapsed in October 2017, it was Britain’s fifth-largest airline carrying up to six million passengers a year.