80,000 Monarch Airlines customers returned to UK

Around 80,000 Monarch Airlines customers who were abroad at the time of the company's collapse have been returned to the UK, the transport secretary has said.

Chris Grayling told MPs this is around 75% of the 110,000 passengers affected by the largest airline failure in UK history.

Other airlines are "already directly appealing" to former Monarch employees after almost 2,000 lost their jobs with the collapse of the company, Grayling added.

Around 2,000 people lost their jobs with the collapse of Monarch Airlines Credit: PA

This has included easyJet inviting applications for 500 cabin crew vacancies.

The transport secretary also said the government would look at whether airlines could be able to wind down in an orderly manner and look after customers themselves, instead of the government stepping in to help with tax-payers' money.

The government has entered into discussions with "several third parties" with the aim of recovering costs of the operation, Grayling said.

"We're also having similar discussions with other travel providers through which passengers may have booked a Monarch holiday," he said.