Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson has flown to the rescue of holidaymakers left stranded abroad after Britain's third largest tour operator collapsed, newspapers have reported.

The heavy metal hero is also a Boeing 757 pilot and flew a specially-chartered Monarch Airlines flight from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt to London Gatwick Airport.

XL Leisure Group went into administration Friday, leaving some 85,000 British holidaymakers stranded abroad.