Airline attacked for dropping Manchester link for two months

By Simon Tostevin

FLYBE is to suspend its Guernsey to Manchester link in two days for more than two months. The airline’s decision to withdraw all flights after Monday until Wednesday 19 March has been criticised by rival Aurigny, which also operates a Manchester route.

Aurigny managing director Malcolm Hart said Flybe was shortchanging islanders by making the move after it had only been given the route in May.

‘If Flybe want to operate on these routes, they need to do exactly that.

‘We’ve been flying to Manchester since 2000 and have never dropped the flights to suit ourselves.

‘It’s obvious they don’t think there’s enough money to be made in the quieter months and just want to cash in on islanders when it suits them, during the busier periods.’

He said Flybe was not thinking about the service it provided to islanders.

‘We’ve been serving the people of Guernsey for 40 years now and the service to them has always been paramount. When we decide to fly a route, we do so to the best of our ability.’

A Flybe spokesman said the decision to withdraw its Manchester route, as well as its link to Norwich until 17 March, was in line with common airline industry practice.

‘Flybe provides regional services both domestically within the UK and from regional airports to a growing number of destinations within Europe.

‘Flybe carefully reviews the economic viability of all these 150-plus routes on a regular basis, looking not only at passenger numbers but also at external cost pressures.

‘This is done not only to monitor where we can offer increased regularity on a given route but also where passenger numbers make a flight economically and environmentally harder to justify.

‘On rare occasions, a decision is taken to withdraw a flight, albeit temporarily, and we can confirm that this is the case with services between Guernsey and both Manchester and Norwich in the first part of this year.

‘While obviously regrettable for inconvenienced passengers, Flybe believes it is a responsible way to manage a very complex business.’

The spokesman added that all passengers affected by cancellations have been rebooked on alternative flights as near to their original departure date or have been offered refunds.