Chancellor Philip Hammond is expected to announce an independent review into airline insolvency arrangements in today’s Budget speech.
The move has been sparked by the collapse of Monarch Airlines, which led to the government spending an estimated £60 million of tax payers’ money to bring home 110,000 passengers stranded overseas.
A review is expected to look at the possibility of insolvent airlines continuing to fly until all passengers have been repatriated, as happened in Germany with the failure of Air Berlin.
The review, to be headed by an independent chairman, will also look at the uneven nature of consumer protection for passengers highlighted by the Monarch collapse.
It is expected to issue its interim findings by next summer, with the final report due by the end of 2018.
