Monarch passengers with Air Travel Organiser’s Licence (Atol) protection should receive refunds within 28 days of making a claim, the Civil Aviation Authority has announced.
An estimated 32,000 claims from passengers affected by the collapse of Monarch Airlines are expected to be made, with total Atol refunds estimated to cost about £21 million.
But it emerged on Tuesday that most of the 860,000 people who had flights and holidays cancelled will not receive an automatic refund, with administrators KPMG estimating that just 10%-15% of customers have bookings protected by Atol.
The scheme only covers package holidays or Monarch flight-only bookings made before December 15, meaning hundreds of thousands of people will be forced to seek refunds from their credit or debit card supplier or through travel insurance.
The CAA said customers, or their travel agents, with Atol protection will receive a claim form by October 11, with most claims expected to be processed within 28 days of receipt.
CAA chief executive Andrew Haines said: “We recognise there are many thousands of Monarch customers who will be bitterly disappointed that their holidays have been cancelled.
“Those who bought a package holiday from Monarch are Atol protected, which means they have full financial protection and are entitled to a full refund of the cost of their holiday.
“By streamlining our processes and using experienced handlers, we aim to ensure claims are managed effectively and customers receive their refunds as quickly as possible.”
More than 60% of the 110,000 Monarch passengers who were abroad when the airline went bust are now back in the UK.
The remaining passengers are expected to be flown home by October 15 as part of the country’s biggest peacetime repatriation.