Mystery surrounds events at companies registered under the name of collapsed travel group Monarch and claims that Monarch Airlines and Monarch Holidays would relaunch next year.
A recently announced bid to revive the Monarch brands was reported to have been abandoned yesterday, only for a follow-up statement to suggest a possible launch after all.
The former Monarch Travel Group failed in October 2017. But a social media post on August 19 suggested Monarch Airlines and Monarch Holidays were to be revived under new owners “following the exit of the companies’ founder and previous majority shareholder”.
The post directed attention to website Letsmonarch.co.uk – in fact, just a home page – as well as pages on LinkedIn, Instagram and X (Twitter).
On Thursday (August 31), a statement “from our Board” on the Letsmonarch site announced: “It is with immense regret that we announce today we have been forced to put the brakes on our process to relaunch Monarch.
“Since taking over the business two weeks ago we have drawn close to exhausted [sic] 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.”
Within less than three hours a “revised” statement was issued, announcing: “We have been approached with new options to continue launching Monarch.
“Monarch’s chairman has stepped down and is to be replaced by a new industry veteran with immediate effect.”
Chairman of the board
Daniel Ellingham had been identified as chairman of the board of Monarch on the company’s website and on LinkedIn.
Ellingham’s LinkedIn profile describes him as “recruited to recreate one of the UK’s largest travel firms”, having “successfully led [a] takeover of [the] company by private equity following the exit of previous shareholders in July 2023”.
It is unclear who recruited Ellingham and he has not responded to requests to speak to Travel Weekly.
However, Ellingham had been involved with companies set up under the Monarch name since January.
He is listed at Companies House as a director of Monarch Airlines Ltd and owner of 75% or more of the shares in the company, having been appointed on August 18. There are no other directors listed, so it’s unclear who was on the board he chaired.
Ellingham was also listed as director of Monarch Holidays Ltd from August 18.
A Karolina Cherney was listed as Monarch Airlines company secretary from August 18. Her position was terminated yesterday (August 31).
A second director of Monarch Airlines, Jake Johnson, ‘resigned’ on August 18. However, when Monarch Airlines was incorporated on January 18 it was owned by another company, Flymonarch, established two days earlier by Ellingham and Johnson.
Flymonarch was dissolved on Tuesday (August 29). It was registered as owned by Eurostig Ltd, of which Johnson was a director, and Cayman Islands-registered Eurostig Management Cayman Ltd. Eurostig was incorporated on January 4 but ceased to have significant control of Flymonarch on April 10.
‘We are soon going to launch’
It quoted Ellingham as saying: “I am honoured to be able to lead the iconic Monarch brand into a new era. We are soon going to launch a new and strong company for the UK tourism sector.
“There are numerous opportunities yet to be filled by other operators; many of these cover some of the former Monarch’s key markets, meaning there is the opportunity for newcomers such as ourselves.”
The company was reported to be looking to operate a fleet of up to 15 Airbus A320 aircraft. However, in reality it had yet to apply for an Air Operators Certificate (AOC).
Another media outlet, AviationSource, carried an interview with Ellingham, reporting Monarch was looking to launch by mid-2024.
It quoted him saying: “We are in talks for a split fleet of A319 and A320 airliners, to be acquired via a UK-based partner. I cannot comment on the extent of these discussions.”
Ellingham said: “We have already been invited to discuss opportunities with flight schools and academies local to our planned bases. Discussions with various airports are either ongoing or yet to begin in earnest.”
Asked how Monarch would compete with Jet2 and Tui, he argued: “Jet2 and Tui both aim for very specific segments of the UK market and for the large part have overlooked some of the most successful routes and destinations previously served by Monarch.
“Monarch will focus only on gaps in the market, areas where demand far outstrips supply.”
He added: “We are approaching the certification process as a brand new airline with no such connection to the previous company.”
Gaps in profile
Ellingham’s LinkedIn profile lists periods spent in aviation in the 1990s and early 2000s as “advisor to the board” of both Austrian Airlines and Swissair. However, his last role in the sector appears to have been in 2005.
Ellingham’s most recent position, as a member of the supervisory board of hygiene and commercial cleaning services provider PHS Group, ended in April 2016.
Strangely, the photo of Ellingham on LinkedIn up until late yesterday (August 31) was near identical to that of a former US Republican Party candidate for the Senate in Montana, John Driscoll.
The photo had been flipped and the hair appeared to have been photo-shopped, but the two images were otherwise identical. There is no obvious connection between the two men, who have substantially different CVs and birthdates separated by a decade.
Whatever the reason for this, the photo of Ellingham on his LinkedIn profile was removed sometime yesterday afternoon.
You can view Driscoll’s photo on the Montana Public Radio site, the Montana Free Press site and on Ballotpedia as well as on Driscoll’s Facebook account.
Ellingham’s LinkedIn page looked like this yesterday evening. But earlier it appeared like this:
Travel Weekly has been unable to contact Ellingham or Monarch to provide an explanation.
The former Monarch Travel Group collapsed in October 2017 owing £466 million and most of the group’s companies have been dissolved.