Cash injection keeps Britain's Monarch Airlines flying

Monarch secured a GBP165m lifeline from majority shareholder Greybull Capital on Wednesday, enabling the low-cost carrier to renew a key operating licence and fund new aircraft. The equity investment was agreed only hours before its operating licence was due to expire, allowing the airline, which sells flights and package holidays to tourist destinations, to keep flying. The 48-year-old airline said the investment would fund the replacement of its Airbus jets with more fuel-efficient Boeing 737 MAX-8 aircraft between 2018 and 2021. Monarch warned in September that security concerns and the devaluation of the pound after Britain's vote to leave the EU in June had made market conditions difficult. Based at the southern English airport of Luton, Monarch has been hit by a decline in the popularity of destinations in Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey due to security concerns. The carrier mainly sells holidays and flights to Spain, Italy and France. Monarch Chief Executive Andrew Swaffield said he now had "real confidence" about his airline's future despite the current environment.<br/>