The administrators of UK leisure carrier Monarch Airlines—which entered into administration Oct. 2—are scheduled in court next week to determine whether the carrier still has allocation powers over its airport slots.

There has been confusion over who has the power to allocate, or re-allocate, the airline’s slots, which have considerable value, especially those at London Gatwick airport. Reports in the UK media have speculated the carrier’s slots at Gatwick alone could be worth as much as £60 million ($80 million).

If administrators KPMG still have control over these, the proceeds from them could be used to pay at least some of Monarch’s creditors—including owners Greybull Capital.

The case is expected to revolve around whether an airline still has control over its slots once its air operator’s certificate has been suspended, as was the case with Monarch when it collapsed early last month.

There is a body of opinion that, in such cases, an airline’s slots revert to a “pool,” to be re-allocated.

A spokeswoman for KPMG told ATW Nov. 1 the case was expected to be heard in the High Court in London next week—perhaps as early as Nov. 6 and 7.

Following the court case, the next milestone in the administration process is likely to be the first report to creditors, which is scheduled to be published toward the end of November. This will detail how Monarch found itself in a financial crisis and how the administrators propose to proceed.

Alan Dron alandron@adepteditorial.com