British government aware of Monarch risk, industry will restructure: minister

British finance minister Philip Hammond said on Monday the government was aware that Monarch Airlines might collapse after it chose a business model that did not pay off, but the airline industry will restructure to take on its capacity.

"We were aware that there was a risk of this happening," Hammond told BBC radio.

"It's never pretty when these things happen ... I am afraid it is not a question of government stepping in, this is an airline that had made certain decisions about its business model and how it wanted to position itself in the market and those decisions didn't pay off obviously."

"The industry will restructure, that capacity will be absorbed and the competitive market will continue to operate."