2

paul matlock

if there was not a rival airline flybe would put up fares they have had a strangle hold for many years when they could have cut the cost and boosted tourisim to the island now we have high prices and hotels run into the ground.

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4

Tracy Jean

As an Alderney resident I am so glad that Aurigny is owned by The States Of Guernsey (to whom I also pay my income tax too).
In this unpredicatable world of credit crunch crisis it is reassuring to know that at least I won’t be marooned on Alderney!!.
Blue Islands do fly in and out of Alderney but culled two routes (Brighton and Jersey – although a token late afternoon direct flight to Jersey is operated, who wants really to stay overnighton a shopping trip with the added expensive of a hotel ?) is to fly the more profitable , glamorous and larger business routes. Blue Islands used Alderney as a stepping stone to get onto bigger and better things by promising cheaper fares (admittley they have offered this), routes people want to fly ( Jersey direct and Brighton – GONE !!)and flights to Cherbourg (which have never, ever operated !!).
Aurigny has it’s roots here in Alderney and long may it stay in States hands.
BRAVO ! Auringy.

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6

Charlotte

I’m sure Aurigny won’t be intimidated by Flybe’s comments. I gave up using Flybe years ago when they abandoned the Guernsey – Bristol route, forcing me to use their expensive Exeter – Guernsey route (no discounts on that one at all at all!). Aurigny may not be the slickest airline in the world, but it’s the one I now CHOOSE to use.

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8

Paul

Bill
I agree with some of your comments. It would indeed be so very easy for Flybe to run Aurigny into the ground. This is where our competitor has us over a barrel. They could sustain losses safely in the knowledge that they will be able to claw them back at a later date. Aurigny is another drain on the pot! Can we afford it? Could better structuring be the answer. Maybe a shakeup with management? Maybe attract other carriers to have a look? One thing that is for sure if we continue down this road we are headng for trouble. It won’t be long before we meet it head on. Then what exactly? Brace ourselves in the hope it won’t hurt too much? We are intent on chucking money everywhere. Once upon a time we could afford to. Now we can’t afford it cos we have chucked most of it away on not much at all actually. Mitakes are made on such a regular basis we are becoming despondent. Depression will be the next step and then the speculators will go ito overdrive. Like Vultures. Most of the time this happens purely due to the politicians not being open and transparent but more importantly accountable. Too many backs are being covered I think. It appears as though we are transparent to the point where we are no longer seen, heard or wanted with the exception of being tax cows. The money won’t last forever. When it is gone then what exactly? Finance ourselves to the point where we crash to our knees. Maybe when it is far too late we will have an electorate that is savvy enough to get us through but the debts will just keep rising and our assets will be stripped to the point that there is nothing left to take. Tom Scott will have a presence at all property auctions. Not that anybody could knock him afterall business is business. One mans loss is another mans gain. Its the way the cookie crumbles. Its all these losses that will have to stop and not at some stage right now please. If not they will ultimately stop us in our tracks! What we are desperate for is directiion. It needs to come from someone that knows where they are going. More importantly someone that actually knows the best and most economical route to take.

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10

Paul Le P

Opinions are always subjective by nature – never more so it seems than with Guernsey air travel!
Personally I have flown both Aurigny and Flybe and generally found Flybe’s service superior to Aurigny as well as generally cheaper (even with their stealth taxes) hence I choose Flybe over Aurigny where possible. Nevertheless, it would be good to see other airlines get involved with Guernsey to increase competition although I can’t see that happening at the moment.
As a small aside, don’t forget we also get free tourist advertising from Flybe as they advertise flights to Guernsey on their website (and in-flight magazine) which is viewed by many different people across Europe who might not have even heard of Guernsey before.

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12

Big D

Air UK got bought into by KLM many years before they decided to pull out of Guernsey. Flybe have been in the islands for many years, previously as British European and before that as Jersey European. They are still running the same major routes as they have for years, and successfully so! As for no government getting things 100% right, I thought the States had no influence on the running of Aurigny, they were just silent backers?! If only more islanders did a bit more research before becoming armchair experts! Flybe are a successful company. Maybe if Aurigny did a bit of rebranding too and changed their product then they might be a success. just because they are part of island life does not mean tax payers should be paying for a failing company.

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14

Martin

With respect, Big D, I am well aware of the historical facts of commercial aviation in Guernsey, having travelled to and from the island for well over 30 years, and also worked for British Airways . If that makes me an armchair expert, then so be it.
But, that apart, when given the choice, I now choose Aurigny as my preferred operator. Also, being a Guernsey taxpayer gives further reason to support them.

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16

Darren

What was the operating loss for the year for Aurigny? £1m? That’s peanuts.

A few of the posts here talk about monopoly and prices going through the roof if FlyBe buy Aurigny, well that is what would happen.

If I were flybe and had a monopoly then I would operate at a substantial profit where possible; it is basic marketing practice that if you have competition who is reducing your margin (as Aurigny is reducing FlyBe’s) then you can either differentiate with different products / services, or you can differentiate on price – the last resort, or a good option, is to buy out your competition.

If they bought Aurigny they could probably make a profit on sales of parts from owned aircraft (remember Paul Stoddart who established this company specialises in breaking aircraft at huge profits).

I think it would be significant concern if the States let Aurigny go for a number of reasons:
1 – the slots would be lost at Manchester, Gatwick et al
2 – Aurigny has it’s own brand identity (the Puffin is well respected by other carriers)
3 – Once they let go, they could never buy back in at the bargain they did in the first place
4 – Guernsey will be held to ransome by other carriers who will put profits before safety.

I would suggest that the States liaise with Aurigny and review the existing fleet of aircraft that they run, i.e. the 3 ATR’s.
I would suggest these are sold for est £5.5m and the purchase is made of a fleet of Bombadier Q300′s – these are faster, quieter, cheaper to run, cheaper to service and offer a far better flight experience than the ATR or any other prop aircraft (Dash included).

The different in costs and quality of flight is immense and longer term the £1m loss might turn to profit.

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18

Rob

Guernsey can’t avoid to lose an vital resource like we did when we sold Guernsey Telecoms.

Every resident of Guernsey should support Aurigny and before long Aurigny’s service would be much bigger than Flybe’s.

As far as I am concerned Flybe’s service is no different to Aurigny, but with support Aurigny will be around to serve the Island much longer than Flybe will.

In the financial climate we are now in Flybe wouldn’t hesitate to pull out of Guernsey.

I only fly Flybe is I have no choice.

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20

Darren

Gilthead – thanks for the post; I was not aware that the States were looking at the ATR72-500′s.

If anyone from the states is reading these posts then please take heed – purchasing or leasing the ATR’s over the Bomadiers is a MASSIVE mistake.

Every other international carrier is going the Bombadier route. I’ve flown on the 300 and 400 series Bombadier and they are light years apart from the ATR.

Incredibly quiet, fuel efficient, cheaper by miles, and well designed. Which Numpty order ATR’s?????

Come on SOG – sort yourselves out.

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22

ingrid

Oh by the way…..all the airlines in Guernsey have stated that the runway does not need to be lengthened……lengthening the runway will not bring easyjet and ryanair here ..increasing the population by 20000 or so more people will!

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24

katie

i have flown with both, as i student i always look for the best prices and more than often its aurigny, no extra charges for bags!! plus in all the years i have travelled back and forth aurigny have never charged me extra baggage, which as a student nearly always happen, living out a suitcase!!! as someone else said a coffee and a chance to catch up on local news on the flight you cant go wrong!!

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26

Traveller

Aurigny takes good care of passengers and does not cancel at the drop of a hat.
The overwhelming impression of other airlines is that profitability comes before customers. Guernsey should not be left to the mercy of other carriers who might exploit a monopoly.

Aurigny is undoubtedly here to serve the islands – don’t even think about jeopardising this.

Incidentally, another article in the Press mentions that Aurigny faces heavy competition on inter-island routes and Manchester. The States are responsible for this – favouring other airlines.

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28

Gilthead

Following on from my earlier post on this – my point isn’t which airline is perceived as better – but we have to look at the economics of it.

Currently Aurigny leases (cheaply) its 3 ATR’s which are now getting on a bit. Next year (or 2010)it will buy 2 and lease another new one. In the current market obtaining funding will not come cheap – also bear in mind the costs of the aircraft are probably Euros or Dollars which will make the purchase even more expensive. I cannot see how this funding will be less expensive than their current lease arrangement!

So Aurigny will have to generate more income to cover these increased costs in a market that is contracting due to the current economic difficulties.

Again, the question must be; how much loss are we prepard to take? If Aurigny get it badly wrong the losses could be eye watering.

Also bear in mind that Aurigny offer a full service at low cost fares – remember this model nearly broke Britsh European (now FlyBe) post 9/11.

I’m afraid that to make money Aurigny must either increase its fares (a la Blue Islands) and not try to compete with FlyBe or alter its business model to a low cost one (FlyBe, EasyJet, Ryan Air, Jet2 etc). Then you can forget the free Press, drinks, baggage excess etc!

Stephen John is right – one wonders where Aurigny sits in the “lets flog the family silver” environment we seem to be heading towards! That one is for another thread!

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30

ingrid

I know where there is a nuclear submarine (slightly smoke damaged) we could get hold of …..should be able to squeeze a couple of hundred on that….We wont need to do anything to the runway then….Perhaps we could scrape some money back renting the runway out to Jeremy, The Stig and friends too!!!!

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32

JohnnyB

Aurigny was a joke purchase by a bunch of clowns – Morgan, Berry, Torode, Langlois.

Flybe and many of us were scratching our heads with “commercialisation” and the benefits of privately run enterprises being sung from the roof tops by these monkies then U-Turning without blinking an eye to fall over to nationalise Aurigny. Hypocracy is thick as thieves on this shambolically run island.

Stop having your heads up your hatchbacks. Tne States is underwriting a worthless company losing money hand over fist. And they want £36m (or more debt) for 2 new aircraft on top?

Flybe cost taxpayers £0.00 to run 365 days a year. We have a competitor called Blue Island. We are bloody lucky to have 2 airlines, let alone 3, on a small rock like this flying to a dozen different destinations.

The private equity Co that sold Aurigny to the States are clever. The States are stupid as mud to have bought it which should be investigated in a shot-gun sale rammed through the States in 12 disgraceful days.

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34

Apollo

Guernsey runway does not need to be extended and even if it was other carriers such as Ryanair or EasyJet would not be remotely interested in flying into Guernsey as they would not have the demand or business to sustain such routes.

At present Aurigny leases 3 ATR 72 aircraft and after the 2 newly purchased ATR 72 500 aircraft arrive two of leased aircraft will be returned to their ownwers. The simple truth is that Aurigny is here for the people of the Channel Islands where as Flybe couldn’t care less about us.

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