Monarch Airlines boss says eyeing acquisitions, not for sale

Aircraft of British carrier Monarch is parked on the apron at Larnaca airport, Cyprus November 7, 2015. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou

LONDON (Reuters) - Monarch Airlines [MONA.UL], the British airline owned by investment firm Greybull Capital, is considering acquisitions, its boss said on Thursday. Chief Executive Andrew Swaffield told an industry audience the airline had also received interest from possible suitors but was not for sale. "We've got our eyes open on potential acquisitions that we might be able to make ourselves with Greybull's support and we haven't denied the fact that there has been interest in us from potential acquirers," he said. "But the 'for sale' sign is not up and as far as we're concerned our focus is on delivering a successful and sustainable profitable business." Earlier this month Greybull appointed bankers to examine options for the airline. There were also media reports that easyjet was considering a bid for Monarch and that Monarch was itself eyeing bid targets including Air Berlin, TuiFly and Thomas Cook Airlines . (Reporting by Sarah Young, writing by James Davey; Editing by Susan Fenton)