Mark Craggs
Mark Craggs is a restructuring and insolvency lawyer based in the London office of Norton Rose Fulbright. He advises UK and international insolvency office-holders, banks and other creditors, corporates, directors, pension scheme trustees, government bodies, regulators and other stakeholders on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious matters.
Mark is a Fellow of INSOL International and a member of a number of committees of INSOL International (including the Technical Research Committee and the Younger Members Committee). He is also a member of the International Insolvency Institute's NextGen Leadership Program, the Insolvency Lawyers' Association and the Association of Business Recovery Professionals (R3). In 2016, he was selected as one of the "40 Under 40" cross-border restructuring and insolvency lawyers worldwide by Global Restructuring Review. He is described in Legal 500 (2017) as an "excellent all-round insolvency lawyer".
Practice Area
Panel
- Contributing Author
Qualified Year
- 2006
Membership
- Association of Business
- Insolvency Lawyers' Association
- International Insolvency Institute's NextGen Leadership Program
- INSOL International
- Recovery Professionals (R3)
Education
- University of Sheffield, LLB Law (Class One Honours)
4 Contributions by Mark Craggs
PRACTICE NOTES
Airline insolvency in England and Wales: industry features, regulatory framework, financing structures, early-stage measures and pre‑insolvency enforcement
Introduction to the airline industry
The purpose of this Practice Note is to present an overview of certain key features of airline insolvencies in England and Wales, and to highlight legal and practical considerations that can shape strategies and outcomes when an airline enters insolvency proceedings. This Practice Note forms part of a wider suite on airline insolvency. For further information, see the following Practice Notes:
Guide to airline insolvency—insolvency proceedings, receivership, restructuring plans and schemes of arrangement
Guide to airline insolvency—international considerations and implications for office-holders
There are particular aspects of the airline industry that set airline insolvencies apart from those of companies in many other sectors. In particular:
the financing structures for the manufacture and acquisition of aircraft, together with the related ownership and leasing frameworks, are often highly complex and can differ significantly from one case to another
the industry is subject to extensive regulation, and the rules applied to airlines can restrict how they operate and influence how easily enforcement action can be taken
the valuable assets required to run an airline’s business (and the focus of a key element of a financier’s...
Restructuring & Insolvency
PRACTICE NOTES
Airline insolvency: cross-border recognition, aircraft access and implications for UK insolvency office-holders
This Practice Note sits within a wider suite on airline insolvency; for further detail, see:
Guide to airline insolvency—introduction
Guide to airline insolvency—insolvency proceedings, receivership, restructuring plans and schemes of arrangement
Cross-border issues
If an airline enters insolvency, the appointed insolvency office-holder, or a lessor or financier, may need to pursue asset recovery in numerous jurisdictions, influenced by the airline’s scale and global reach. For office-holders, consideration should be given to the potential application of the Cape Town Convention (see Practice Note: Guide to airline insolvency—insolvency proceedings, receivership, restructuring plans and schemes of arrangement).
Where aircraft and other assets are situated in jurisdictions that have implemented the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency, the office-holder may seek recognition and assistance in those places (see generally: UNCITRAL Model Law and Cross-Border Insolvency Regulations 2006 (CBIR)—overview). Outside such jurisdictions, alternative routes to recognition and assistance may exist, for example under the common law in many Commonwealth...
Restructuring & Insolvency
PRACTICE NOTES
Monarch Airlines administration (2017) case study: UK airline insolvency—CAA repatriation, leased aircraft and airport liens, and slot allocation litigation—practical lessons
ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note reviews the administration of Monarch Airlines that occurred in 2017. It is not being maintained and is provided solely for background reference. It forms part of a broader suite of Practice Notes on airline insolvency. For further details, see:
Guide to airline insolvency—introduction
Guide to airline insolvency—insolvency processes, receivership, restructuring plans and schemes of arrangement
Guide to airline insolvency—international considerations
Background and lead-up to administration
Before entering administration on 2 October 2017, Monarch Airlines operated scheduled services for tour operators, travel agents and direct customers, flying to and from five UK airports—Birmingham, Leeds-Bradford, Gatwick, Luton and Manchester—to 44 destinations, the majority in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands. In common with many carriers worldwide, it faced tough market conditions and undertook a significant restructuring in 2014. The group returned to profit in 2015. However, persistent pressures within the European aviation sector—including terrorist attacks in Western Europe, Türkiye and key North African destinations served by Monarch—resulted in further weakening of the group’s financial position during 2016...
Restructuring & Insolvency
PRACTICE NOTES
UK airline insolvency: administration, moratorium, liquidation/receivership, Cape Town Convention, security deposits and liens, repossession and slots, and restructuring under Companies Act Part 26 schemes and Part 26A plans
This Practice Note forms part of a wider suite of Practice Notes on airline insolvency; for additional detail, see Practice Notes:
Guide to airline insolvency—introduction
Guide to airline insolvency—international considerations and implications for office-holders
Insolvency proceedings
Commencement of insolvency proceedings concerning an airline can carry differing implications for a financier, which will turn on both the category of procedure used and the way in which it is brought. Within the UK, the processes most often encountered in airline insolvencies are administration, liquidation and receivership (acknowledging that the last is, strictly, a contractual remedy rather than a formal insolvency process). Following the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA 2020), a company may enter a standalone moratorium intended to provide limited protection from certain creditor claims and enforcement steps. To date, there have been no recorded instances of an airline entering such a moratorium. The UK’s 2015 adoption of the Cape Town Convention constitutes a material concession for secured creditors pursuing repossession of aircraft objects (broadly, qualifying airframes and aircraft engines) where the Convention applies, with the most notable shift being the disapplication in relevant insolvency scenarios under the framework described above, as it operates to prioritise secured recovery in circumstances...
Restructuring & Insolvency
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