This Is Guernsey

By Simon Tostevin

GUERNSEY’S new link to Paris will benefit the business community, according to a  Giba spokesman.

Flybe will start flying to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport from 11 July and operate the route four days a week. The announcement has received a thumbs-up from Guernsey International Business Association deputy chairman Paul Meader.

‘The opening of a further route into a major European hub is excellent news for business in Guernsey. It means that international travel is less dependent upon Gatwick and will provide much more choice of international airlines. In addition, it will provide an alternative for islanders given the increased sensitivities over residence from transiting through the UK.’

Charles de Gaulle is the largest of Paris’s three commercial airports and handles nearly 15 million more passengers every year than Gatwick.

Air France destinations from there include New York, Bangkok, Barcelona, Cape Town, Rome and Shanghai.

The link has been established following agreement  between Flybe and the Commerce and Employment Department as part of the States’ route-development project which is administered by the department.

Blue Islands flies to another of the city’s airports, Beauvais.

Mr Meader said the Paris link would also help to build closer business links with another major European financial capital.

‘The key to making this route a success will be by way of fares which are competitive with the Guernsey-Gatwick route.’

Outgoing Commerce and Employment minister Stuart Falla said yesterday that the route-development project would not stop there and that the department would continue to explore new ways of making it easier and cheaper to fly in to and out of Guernsey.

Tickets to Paris went on sale yesterday at a special lead price of £29.99 inclusive of taxes.