Monarch Aircraft Engineering Limited (MAEL) has fallen into administration with the loss of around 408 jobs.
According to Sky News, the organisation, owned by private equity firm Greybull Capital, ran into financial difficulty due to debts inherited from the airline and the loss of the business.
MAEL, which employed more than 553 people in the UK and Europe, provided aircraft maintenance services to the likes of Cathay Pacific, easyJet, Norwegian and Virgin Atlantic.
KPMG, which had been appointed as administrator, said the business was “unsustainable in its present form” following a restructuring in October.
“Following the administration of other Monarch entities in 2017, MAEL sought to build its customer base to replace the loss of business from the former airline,” David Pike, restructuring partner at KPMG, said.
“Through the insolvency of the airline however, the company inherited significant debts and claims. Every effort has been made to turn around the business, including launching a CVA (Company Voluntary Arrangements) which sought to resolve these legacy debts.
“Unfortunately, following the CVA, a number of customers reduced or sought to terminate their relationship with MAEL, further adversely impacting the business.”
Monarch Airlines went bust in 2017, leading to the loss of 1,858 jobs. Around 860,000 passengers were affected by the carrier’s demise.
Some parts of the engineering arm – including the technical support and trading academy – will continue to operate while it searches for a buyer. The fleet technical support business employs 27 people and the trading academy has 53 apprentices on its books.
Another 83 employees are to be retained to wind down the business in Luton.
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