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Monarch repatriation over but thousands still stranded

More than 80,000 Monarch passengers have been brought home to the UK after the airline's collapse - but thousands apparently remain stranded with the repatriation programme now closed.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) chartered flights for a two-week period in a £60m operation after the carrier went into administration, to cover the return trips.

But anyone who was not due to return home in that period was not included in the programme.

The CAA said around 1,000 still abroad whose flights were covered by the industry's ATOL guarantee will be contacted to arrange alternatives.

But administrators KPMG said a total of 4,000 remained overseas, including some who had gone away for planned lengthy stays abroad.

That figure suggested 3,000 are not covered by the guarantee and will have to arrange their own way home.

The collapse of Monarch, the UK's fifth biggest airline, prompted what was described as the UK's "biggest peacetime repatriation" with 110,000 expected to be flown back.

In the end, less than 85,000 passengers were involved, on 576 flights.

The CAA said that was partly because some chose to make their own arrangements to return to the UK, while in other cases tour companies brought back their own passengers.

A third group were not eligible for repatriation because they had travelled out after 2 October - the day Monarch went into administration.

The CAA said the two-week programme ended when a flight from Tel Aviv landed at Luton Airport at 3.30am on Monday.

In all, more than 60 aircraft from 27 global airlines were involved, bringing passengers from more than 30 destinations in 14 countries to six airports in the UK.

CAA chief executive Andrew Haines said: "This was not a job that any of us wanted to do but we are pleased to have all played our part in Britain's largest peacetime repatriation."

Nearly 2,000 people were made redundant after Monarch's collapse while 750,000 people yet to travel had their trips cancelled.

The Transport Secretary used the conclusion of the rescue flights to join calls for Monarch's private equity owner, Greybull Capital, to contribute funds to the £60m repatriation.