It has been quite the day for the new Monarch Airlines, with the carrier announcing earlier today a suspension in its launch plans, as well as their chairman being sacked and more!
Let’s take a look at the chain of events that have transpired with the carrier since its initial restart announcement to now.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
When The New Monarch Airlines Announced Itself to the World…
It all started off with this. The old Monarch logo, a white background and standard black text announcing their return to the skies.
At the time, this was set up under the leadership of Daniel Ellingham, the then chairman of the carrier at the time.
Observers noted also that two companies had been created under this guise, being Monarch Airlines Limited and Monarch Holidays Limited, hinting that they would occupy the same space as TUI & Jet2.
From there, the discussions amongst the community began.
Funding Secured, Mid-2024 Initial Launch Date & Branding Alterations…
From there, a range of things had happened over the last week or so, with the new version of the website released with new branding on the company.
Monarch Airlines had also secured funding from what was reported to be a Luxembourg-based investor, and that the carrier was aiming to start operations with 15-20 aircraft.
By this point, AviationSource had already sat down with Ellingham in an exclusive interview, where he stated that the carrier was going for a mid-2024 launch.
In that interview, Ellingham laid out how sustainability was going to be a big part of the way the new Monarch Airlines was launching. He said the following at the time:
“One of the main points of criticism for any new airline venture is its impact on the environment – it is thus very important to Monarch that we approach the aspect of sustainability from day one.”
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“This is something that we simply have to get right in order to ensure the future of our industry, not just Monarch itself.”
He also addressed the criticism about starting up in the UK, especially in the context of Flybe 2.0:
“I feel that Flybe 2.0 and the new Monarch are very different businesses.”
“Flybe relaunched with a very messy approach wherein it attempted to regain yield on routes with multiple existing operators which had grown considerably since it exited the market.”
“Monarch, on the other hand, will focus only on gaps in the market; areas where demand far outstrips supply.”
As we come to see next, the first big challenge is currently ongoing at the carrier…
Chairman Sacked: Carrier Been Approached With New Options to Continue Launching…
Then, we come to today. Monarch Airlines announced earlier today that their plans for launch were put on hold due to exhausting their already-existing investment channels.
At that point, they said the following in a statement:
“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.”
Then throughout the day, the official Monarch social media handles were removed for a few hours, causing more chaos within this, adding more speculation that they were going under completely.
From there, the airline said the following to Airways Magazine on this:
“The relaunch has been postponed indefinitely, though we are still attempting to hold negotiations in the background. The aircraft and airport discussions are continuing though at a slower pace”.
About an hour and a half after that, the carrier’s socials came back alive, and a statement was put out, confirming the departure of Chairman Daniel Ellingham:
“We have been approached with new options to continue launching Monarch. We hope to bring more positive news to you shortly.”
“Monarch’s Chairman is to step down and be replaced with immediate effect. We are working tirelessly and will continue to do so.”
They then revised their statement to the following:
“We have been approached with new options to continue launching Monarch. We hope to bring more positive news to you shortly, however this could take several weeks or months.”
“We are working tirelessly and will continue to do so. Thank you to all those who have supported our relaunch and rebranding process so far.”
The difference being is that they have removed mention of their chairman leaving. Is Ellingham leaving or not?
Overall: Probably Not The Start Monarch Was Expecting…
Looking at this from the last 12 days of activity, this is not the start that Monarch Airlines was expecting, especially after the initial hype and excitement of a legendary UK brand coming back into the skies.
If the outcome is positive for Monarch under the new chairman, whoever that might be, they still have an upward battle to contend with.
The next step and priority will be the Air Operator’s Certificate and acquiring aircraft. On the AOC, the UK CAA confirmed to AviationSource that the airline has not yet applied for one.
Looking ahead, it’s going to be interesting to see what the next revelations will be from an airline that has caused so much attention over the last two weeks.
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