Monarch flights operate as normal despite aircraft repatriation rumours: 14 of 34 aircraft are leased out of Ireland

• 14 of 34 aircraft are leased out of Ireland
• Luton based airline tweeted reassurance to passengers

Flights by Luton based budget airline Monarch continued to operate as normal after a day of rumours aircraft were returning to England for repatriation flights.

The airline is part owned by Globus travel group. Investment firm Greybull Capital bought a 90pc stake in Monarch in 2014. A spokesman for Monarch said: “Over the weekend, there has been negative speculation about Monarch’s financial health. Our flights are operating as normal, carrying Monarch passengers as scheduled. To weather tougher market conditions and to fund its ongoing growth, Monarch expects to announce a significant investment from its stakeholders in the coming days.”

The airline replied directly to customers asking if the rumours are true. The airline tweeted “Hi there, the rumours are not true. Please ignore them On the repatriation flights Monarch tweeted:: “this is nothing to do with Monarch Airlines, please ignore the rumours.” Asked  “Are you going bust tonight? Hope not, we have flights booked“, Monarch replied: “Absolutely not. We hope you have a great flight,?”

Among the rumours was speculation that their handling company in Birmingham and Gatwick may go bust and that operations were due to cease Sunday night but the airline was saved by overnight talks. Monarch Airlines exited long haul flying after heavy losses and downsized last year. It carried 5.7m passengers during 2015, down 19pc on 2014.

The airline’s headquarters are at Luton, with other bases at Birmingham, Leeds/Bradford, Gatwick and Manchester. Formed on June 5 1967with Swiss backing as an offshoot of Cosmos tours, Monarch is the oldest English airline to have not changed its original name. It has 2,800 employees.

Monarch currently operates  a fleet of 34 Airbus aircraft, 14 of which are leased out of Ireland. It iis due to transition to an all-Boeing fleet from 2018 with 30 737Max on order. Lessors include Aercap, BOC and ILFC.