The Lanzarote airport has been affected by the bankruptcy of the British low-cost airline Monarch, which has stopped operating since this Monday, canceling all its flights and leaving its passengers on the ground. Specifically, Monarch connects Lanzarote with the two London airports (Gatwick and Luton), with Manchester and with Birmingham through 20 weekly flights in the summer season and 12 in the winter season, which have now been suspended.
In fact, the first effects on the island have already been noticed this Monday, with the cancellation of three departures and arrivals that Monarch had planned. However, as confirmed by the CEO of SPEL, the United Kingdom is chartering planes to repatriate travelers who had to return to their country this Monday and who, in the case of Lanzarote, were around 400. "I spoke with the company that does the handling for them, which is Swissport, and two planes had already arrived to take the clients out," said Fernández shortly after 3:00 p.m.
The CEO of SPEL was not very surprised by the news, as he points out that Monarch "had been presenting financial problems for a couple of years." In addition, he is confident that the damage to Lanzarote will be minimal and that the British who had planned to travel to the island with Monarch soon "can relocate" to the other six companies that connect the United Kingdom with Lanzarote. "Some will be lost, but for now it looks good," he said.
Fernández also pointed out that companies such as Easyjet, Norwegian or Wizzair have already expressed interest in buying the 'slots' or rights to operate in airports that Monarch has.
