UK's Monarch to be budget carrier, cuts staff

[LONDON] British holidays airline operator Monarch Group is set to cut the airline's workforce by a third with the closure of its charter operations as it moves to reinvent the carrier as a scheduled European budget airline.

Monarch, privately-owned by the Mantegazza family, said that it would scrap its charter flights business to focus on the scheduled European market, repositioning itself as a smaller rival to Europe's biggest low-cost carriers Ryanair and easyJet.

A source said that Monarch could reduce its staff numbers by around a third, cutting 1,000 jobs, and reduce aircraft numbers to 30 from its current 42 as part of the shake-up plans.