IAG International Airlines Group has won an unspecified number of Monarch Airlines (1968)' London Gatwick slots following submissions from various operators including Thomas Cook Group.
According to the Press Association news agency, the deal saw the British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) parent acquire the "majority" of the defunct carrier's slots at London's second busiest airfield.
Monarch was last week granted possession of its Gatwick and London Luton slots following a UK Court of Appeal ruling overturning a previous High Court decision. Creditor firms now stand to recuperate some of their dues as a result of the appeal.
Other operators that Reuters had indicated to be interested in Monarch's London slots included Norwegian UK, easyJet, and Wizz Air.
Monarch Airlines collapsed in early October amid debts of GBP466 million (USD621.44 million) bankruptcy administrators KPMG said in their first creditors report.
However, according to the Sunday Times, with only GBP600,000 (USD800,000) available to repay unsecured creditors, KPMG has since concluded that the cost of repaying them all would exceed this amount.
“As the secured creditors will likely suffer a shortfall, there is no real prospect of a return to unsecured creditors in any of the administration companies,” the KPMG report said.
Despite the doom and gloom, the Financial Times has reported that Monarch’s employees, the carrier's preferential creditors, are expected to receive 100% of the monies owed to them. A total of 1,858 staff at Monarch Airlines and Monarch Travel Group were made redundant in early October.
