GUERNSEY Airport could close for up to eight days while the runway is upgraded, it has emerged.

Airlines are dismayed by the possibility of no-fly days and have called on the Public Services Department to rethink its plans.

The department has produced a consultation document that says some closures are unavoidable because of the scale of the runway work.

It gave ‘worst case’ scenarios of four two-day closures, although it said that precise details would not be confirmed until a contractor had been appointed in the summer.

‘The complex nature of the works required at Guernsey Airport, including some full-depth reconstruction of the western end of the runway, make the required closures a necessity,’ PSD said in a consultation paper seen by the Guernsey Press.

‘That said, every effort will be made in detailed discussions with contractors to reduce these closures to a minimum and, where possible, avoid them altogether.’

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