Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government when they last communicated with Greybull Capital and Petrol Jersey Limited about the repayment of the costs to taxpayers of repatriating UK passengers of Monarch Airlines when that airline collapsed.

Greybull Capital is not itself a shareholder in Monarch Airlines but it does perform an advisory and management role for the principal shareholder, Petrol Jersey Limited. There is no formal legal mechanism we can use to oblige Greybull to contribute towards the cost of repatriating passengers.

Marc Meyohas, partner at Greybull, wrote to the Transport Select Committee on 24 October 2017 acknowledging a moral obligation (if they make a profit) to contribute and help to defray the costs incurred by the Government in repatriating Monarch customers.

The extent of any profit or loss from Greybull Capital and Petrol Jersey Limited’s investment in Monarch Airlines will depend on the outcome of the administration process, which is not due to conclude until October 2020. Until then, we will not be able to confirm the final total that the Department has recouped.

Discussions with Greybull in relation to recovering the costs of the repatriation operation have been in writing. Ministers last wrote to Greybull on this matter on 5 December 2018.