Originally Posted by
Flightrider
OK so a bit of digging on the Intellectual Property Office website says that all roads lead back to We Love Holidays Limited, which owns the original Monarch trademarks (for class 39, transportation) and has a pending application registered yesterday for a new category of Monarch trademarks as well. It looks to have some overseas European trading companies and the ultimate controlling party of the company is listed as Livingbridge, which is one of the larger UK venture capital / private equity companies specialising in mid-market companies. With the IPO registration yesterday, it can only be this company behind the new Monarch venture. Presumably it is getting squeezed out on supply of air seats for dynamic packages by easyJet doing its own thing and so if it is to continue making a solid set of profits (last year's £35m profit before tax on a turnover of £135m is pretty decent for the travel sector) then it needs seat supply. They've £50m in the bank (most of which looks to be their own money as opposed to customer deposits) and I'd presume access to more capital through their venture capital shareholder. Looks credible from where I sit.
I’m assuming it could also be linked to the Ryanair/OTA ‘battle’ -
https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/air/...rs-book-direct, although there are some who just think it’s FR positioning for more of their business!
Although it’s not quite the same as having your own airline - On The Beach did their own charters to Turkey, as there wasn’t enough seats for them to control. It certainly seems like one way where they can control pricing, so they are not priced out.