MPS have praised Manchester Airport staff for their part in the UK’s biggest peacetime repatriation effort in the wake of airline Monarch’s demise.

The airline went into administration in the early hours of October 2, leaving some 110,000 Brits stranded abroad with no return flight. Almost 2,000 jobs have also been lost.

Staff at airports including Manchester, Gatwick, Luton and Leeds-Bradford spent much of Monday greeting returning passengers and arranging return flights.

Speaking in Parliament, Tatton’s Esther McVey said: “Following on from the many letters I have received from constituents, would the Secretary of State join with me in thanking and congratulating the staff of the Civil Aviation Authority, the Department of Transport and also my local airport Manchester for the work they have done for the biggest repatriation in peacetime.”

The operation is ongoing, and includes 27 different airlines working together to run 700 flights to bring people home.

Hundreds of call centre staff are fielding more than 39,000 calls, with more than three-quarters of those stranded at the time of collapse now back on home soil.

Transport secretary Chris Grayling said: “I pay tribute to staff at Manchester Airport. I met the first plane back in Manchester and they really rode in behind the challenge.

“They were only notified late the previous day, but by Monday morning they had staff out greeting passengers, telling them what had happened, and sorting out all the issues arising from the administration.”

Mr Grayling added that other airlines are appealing to those who have lost jobs at Monarch, while all affected have received information and Jobcentre Plus support.