Big plans, which should also lead to the revival of Monarch Airlines, were only announced a few days ago. However, the project does not seem to have been particularly well financed, because the money ran out before the application for AOC and operating license was submitted. But it gets even weirder: Shortly after an official announcement, some rowed back again.

The "new" Monarch has not flown a millimeter. Nor have they even applied for the necessary certificates from the UK CAA. They wanted to do this in the next few weeks in order to be able to get involved with around ten Airbus A2024s in the summer of 320. There is a high probability that nothing will come of it, because on August 31, 2023 the company had to announce that it had run out of money.

The official statement suggests that the financial outlay required to start and operate an airline may have been grossly overestimated. In particular, the wording that the "start-up funding" has already been used up points to severe underfunding from the drawing board: "It is with great regret that we announce today that we feel compelled to stop the relaunch of Monarch. We didn't take this decision lightly, but since acquiring the company two weeks ago, we've exhausted the seed funding made available to us much quicker than expected. We looked for alternative ways, such as a partial sale of share capital, and will continue to do so, but at this time there is no practical way to proceed in the immediate future," the company said in a statement.

This is not really surprising, because the limited company under British law had only a meager registered capital from the time it was founded. Real airlines have much higher totals. The revival of Monarch Airlines, which went bankrupt in 2017, is likely to be over also meet sister project Monarch Holidays. subhe of this brand, which should also be reactivated, one wanted to become another online travel agent on the market.

You sometimes row back

However, shortly after the announcement that it had run out of money, Monarch Airlines issued another statement in which it backtracked, at least in part. The chairman of the supervisory board has been replaced and there are now options again to bring the company into the air. A look at the company register shows that a large number of mandatory disclosures have been made in recent weeks. Monarch Airlines Limited was only incorporated in January 2023 with share capital of just £100. Effective August 18, 2023, Daniel Ellingham was appointed Managing Director.

On the same day, company founder Jake Charles Johnson resigned from all official functions. Notable: On August 19, 2023, Karolina Cherney was appointed Company Secretary by law and was removed on August 31, 2023. According to the documents filed in the company register of England and Wales, there is no supervisory board at all. In a way, this suggests that the replacement of the Company Secretary might have been presented a little differently. The company website has since been shut down.

Shortly before the chaos: voting on the first livery

Curious: A new livery was presented just a few days ago. Last Thursday, Monarch Airlines asked users to vote on two drafts via social media. It was promised that the design that gets the most votes will be painted on the first Airbus A320.

A few hours later, the corresponding postings were deleted and the company began distributing the information that financial reasons meant throwing in the towel. Thus, the "new" Monarch Airlines is also part of a large number of UK projects that have never taken off. In recent years, Flypop and Hans Airways, among others, had big plans and even wanted to go long-haul, but the AOC application failed.

The "new" Monarch Airlines has little to do with the old company, which went bankrupt a few years ago. The initiators have acquired the rights to the name and founded a completely new company. One promises, however, that the old tradition should be continued. This includes the company's first bases.

The current aim is for Monarch Airlines, which went bankrupt in 2017, to be back in the air in the summer 2024 schedule. However, this presupposes that you have been granted an AOC and operating license by the CAA in the United Kingdom by then. Some aircraft are said to have already been secured through local lessors.