Defunct airline Monarch has lost its High Court battle to sell ‘valuable’ take-off and landing slots.
Lord Justice Gross and Mr Justice Lewis, presiding over the case, said the airline has no right to resell its slots and that they should be reallocated to new bidders. The slots are said to be worth as much as £60 million.
The Judges said that Airport Coordination Limited – which oversees allocation of airport slots – was under no obligation “to allocate summer 2018 slots to Monarch by reason of historical precedence (grandfather rights)”.
The administrators of Monarch have indicated that they will appeal the decision.
Monarch went into administration in early October, leaving around 110,000 holidaymakers stranded overseas, while hundreds of thousands more had future bookings cancelled.
Consumers who bought package holidays with an ATOL certificate have financial protection, but for the vast majority of holidaymakers – around 95 per cent – with flight only deals will be listed as creditors.
It means the recent High Court ruling will be a massive blow for those who hope to recover their costs.
Blair Nimmo, joint administrator, said: “We are disappointed with today’s ruling and will be seeking leave to appeal as a matter of urgency.”
Tim Hawkins, corporate affairs director at Manchester Airports Group, said: “Today’s judgement recognises just how important it is for Monarch’s runway slots to be reallocated quickly so that other airlines can operate new services at Manchester Airport next year to replace those that have been lost.”