Bluerigny is dead
Tuesday 14th September 2010, 2:30PM BST.
BLUE ISLANDS will not be taking over Aurigny.
Treasury announced late last night that it had ended discussions over the possible sale of the States-owned airline.
The department had been in talks with Blue Islands since 15 July but now says it cannot be certain that the ‘potential risk of losing the Gatwick slots would be negligible’.
‘It is also not possible to be sufficiently certain that the combined airline would become, and remain, profitable in the long term,’ said a Treasury spokesman.
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Perhaps the Press should demand from T and R that the public be told just how much it has cost the taxpayer for T and R to discover that “The department had been in talks with Blue Islands since 15 July but now says it cannot be certain that the ‘potential risk of losing the Gatwick slots would be negligible’”.
Most of us could have told them that in July.
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Good!
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Oh no Parky is that the time! Oh well best you be on your way then a!
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Great!
Bluerigny really is dead now as neither will survive the next few years leaving us with Flybe as our only airline! But hooray we will have Flybe Jets for a few years till we become a backwater again and return to whatever overpriced turbojunk they leave us!
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I’ve just been listening to Mr Coates on BBC Radio, going on seemingly endlessly about what a bad decision this was for the taxpayer
That is merely his opinion, but what he fails to appreciate is that the more he moans, the more credibility he loses.
Mr C, it was a business decision that went against you, a private individual. Deal with it, and keep your toys in the pram while you are at it
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Excellent news!
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This is fantastic news.
Next step is to get rid of the Regulator so that the competion element of why there are two operators for limited interisland flights can be dropped and the flights just be retained by Aurigny.
This is Guernsey’s airline, for the people and for the Island’s sustainable future.
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Now, I’m not Parkie’s biggest fan, or T&R.
But to be honest, the posts to date really make me sick.
IF it somehow came about, say in 5 years time, that T&R didn’t even consider the proposal and that BI could prove that it could have saved £5m over the previous 3 years, you lot would have been first to jump on the States for dismissing the idea without looking into it.
Damned if he doesn’t and, clearly, damned if he does. No wonder he’s fed up with all the unreasonable armchair know it all’s on this island.
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Derek you tried, you failed, time to move on. Try the Bahamas you are no longer wanted in the CI. Think OF THE Beatles Classic Money can’t buy you love. It also failed to purchase a reliable airline. That only comes with 40+ years of superb customer service, long live Aurigny.
Jersey Boy
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Not surprised and somewhat relieved. While Coates is a successful vitamin salesman he’s yet to prove he can run a successful airline – and the lack of thinking on the take over of Aurigny ‘haven’t considered what the name should be’ did not bode well. Now the States should make clear to the Aurigny board that they need to cut losses….or there will be some senior management sackings….
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@ Stephen John
Isn’t this this a question that Tribal should address and answer?
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Good. Perhaps now T & R can concentrate on getting some proper management in at Aurigny to make it profitable. Otherwise they will just get distracted and waste more money considering other half baked ‘proposals’ to give our airline away. Get rid of Hart. I would be all for keeping him if he was running the business profitably, he’s not so he should go now before more damage is done.
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Great… so every time I fly with BlueIslands, my preferred airline as I find them a more customer oriented personal service, I’m paying twice. Once for my actual ticket and again through my taxes to keep a loss making airline in the air.
Thank you very much!
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What is shocking is that there appears to have been no attempt to salvage the deal with Blue Islands and no alternative offer is on the table. Aurigny is losing too much money and clearly has inefficient management. T & R do not know how to run an airline and neither do the Aurigny management team so just how is this loss making airline going to improve. Words from the Aurigny MD are cheap as he has proposed solutions to the airlines financial crisis for that past three years but to no avail.
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Derek Coates bleates on about Aurigny’s losses, and fails to mention that before he came along Aurigny was doing just fine. He has decided to try and drive Aurigny out of the inter island markets, he has spent millions of pounds providing below cost ticket prices in the inter island markets buying market share from Aurigny and blowing his trumpet about how big his share is getting. Apart from the recession Derek coates is the reason that Aurigny is losing money. If he really has concerns for the losses suffered by the taxpayer, he could address this instantly by charging fares on his services that reflect the cost of providing them. On the basis of numbers he has himself revealved, that would mean raising ticket prices by £10 each. Then you’d see the market drift back to Aurigny, greatly improving Aurigny’s viability! But that wouldn’t serve Derek’s interests, which are nothing to do with the taxpayers at all, so don’t expect to see it happening any time soon. Alternatively he could just shut down Blue Islands, and Aurigny’s problems would be gone.
Blue Islands is Aurigny’s problem, and hence the taxpayers problem, don’t believe Derek’s fairytales.
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Adrian R
You’re supporting two loss making airlines by flying with Blue Islands, so next time just fly with Aurigny, and if others like you did too, Blue Islands would soon go away and Aurigny’s problems would be solved.
Do you really think that Blue Islands would continue to offer the underpriced over specified product they do today, if Aurigny weren’t there? Dream on…..
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I seem to remember hearing on the radio & reading in the press that D C that Blue Islands was losing as much money if not more then aurigny?
Blue islands should just pack up and go now. The inter island routes not big enough to 2 airlines give it back to the airline thats been in guernsey longer!
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This is good news, keep the local airline States owned, even if it’s not profitable at the moment.
Also don’t the States still own two fuel tankers?
Perhaps these make more than enough to subsidise Aurigny ?
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Mr Coates do yourself and Aurigny a favour and give Aurigny your routes.That way you’ll save yourself from propping up Blue Islands and Aurigny will maybe start to make money.
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I Le Page
I suspect that Coates will soon dump the loss making airline and perhaps, keep one islander to service the supermarket on Alderney.
I also suspect that time will tell that Blue Island needed the clowns at T and R, to gift him Aurigny, in order to allow his airline to survive.
The whole scheme was a non starter from the time Coates told the less than bright members at T and R of his plans.
How much money has been spent on legal advice? Remember that civil servant Derek Neale claimed £30000 for legal advice over an employment issue. Seems daft to justify the pulling out because the third legal opinion was against the giveaway, whilst the first two was for the philanthropic use of tax payer monies.
Stiletto
Good point re Tribal. However will they bite the hand of the paymaster??
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This has made my day!!!
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Tell you what States of Guernsey – why not buy the petrol supplier, and the brewery, the supermarkets and everything else…..Then you can insure that you are not subject to any of the effects of supply and demand.
If GCI – LGW is so important then demand would have kept the route… if your financial decisions
- as shown in the Icelandic affair – continue – you won’t need a route to London at all.
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@ Stephen John
Good points yours, as well. I do hope that Tribal will bite the hands of those who employed them, courtesy of us taxpayers,since their mission is to deliver a fundamental spending review. My understanding is that they are paid when they put solutions forward (and, budgets are put in place).
There cannot be a better time than this to demonstrate their worth to the community, in real terms.
I was pleased to see our illustrious old darling,Ex CM Mike Torode come into play again, having heaved himself out of his armchair to voice an opinion, or several, but, I do wish that he would climb down from his high horse as well.
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Every dog has his day-well worth waiting for.Take a tip from me DC.When you employ experienced people listen to what they have to say-you might learn something! Enjoy the Caribbean-I hear the inter-island flying is a wonderful experience.
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Vic Mel
What on earth are you talking about?
Who says there is no demand on the Gatwick/Guernsey route? Flybe and Aurigny each make 4 or 5 return trips to Gatwick every day, 7 days a week and many of the flights are 75% full!
Please get your facts right before you spout such rubbish.
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Great reading so far in this subject.
I attended the meeting in Alderney when Coates addressed and tried to patronised the Alderney Public. During that meeting he openly stated “That his personal wealth could sustain a loss making Aurigny for 100 years”, a statement (although probably true) that certainly sickened myself many attending !
Money doesn’t always speak Mr Coates, Alderney is a proud Community.
In addition he stated ” I could run inter Island and Southampton /Alderney routes with four Trilanders” to which an Alderney Pilot replied “sorry, explaining that the minimum your could run on is five Trislanders”, Coates reply “well we would use Five then” ???? What sort of answer was that.
Who on earth was advising him ? That answer gave every indication that he was going into the possible merger with eyes shut and ill advised !
Oh for the day he takes his Loss making Airline and subsidesed Hotels and leaves these lovely Islands alone. Stick to the Pills Mr C !
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The dark cloud over Alderney has been lifted! Aurigny would probably not have suffered such losses in the first place if the powers that be had not given the inter-island licences away. More support should be given to Aurigny by making all States depts booking their staff with Aurigny not Blue Islands. Oh and please States of Guernsey.. do not even consider selling Alderneys routes to another private individual. Thank you
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Do I need to go to Specsavers?
Did I dream that I read in the GEP today, which had now been re cycled, that Derek Coates is calling himself a Guernseyman in his Dear Sir diatribe and, referring at great length to a no doubt highly expensive view from “our London Lawyers”?? Wouldn’t any local firm take him on then, good on yer!
Just off to take some vitamins, purchased from Boots.
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