Blue Islands drops its support for Alderney
Saturday 26th February 2011, 2:29PM GMT.
HEALTHSPAN will pull its financial support for Alderney tourism this year after it claimed the refusal of a new Southampton route had made the venture unviable.
But Aurigny, the only airline operating the UK link, said the move was an unfair reaction to an extra route that would not have worked.
Blue Islands parent company, Healthspan, planned to offer low fares to passengers and boost the island’s economy in return for permission to compete with Aurigny.
But following the refusal, Healthspan chairman Derek Coates (pictured) said his investment in island tourism will no longer see a return.
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Why not offer an alternative destination for Alderney people? Such as Bristol?
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Pram
Toys
Out they go!
Mr Coates’ approach to not getting his own way seems vaguely similar to what is happening over the water in Sark
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The phrase…….. “Toys chucked them out of the pram” comes to mind !!.
Just because Mr.Coates doesn’t get his own way again.He becomes vengeful and petty with threats to cut flight schedules to Alderney, close his hotel The Braye Beach for the winter and withdraw funding to Alderney tourism to help promote Alderney.. Surely, he cannot be allowed to blackmail the Alderney residents and The States Of Alderney with a blatant “give me your Southampton route or else” routine………….. can he ????
Most Alderney residents would love Mr.Coates and Blue Islands Airlines to bring more visitors to the island via Exeter, Bournemouth or Shoreham. Let him have another UK direct route and then when it is operated for at least 18 months him “play” with our ONLY direct route to the UK. I am afraid with Aurigny it is a case of “better the devil you know”.
I am very sorry to say that most Alderney folk just don’t trust you Mr.Coates. And trust is a very important part of any realationship !!
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Typical alderney states! Thanks for once again making a stupid decision and making residents who would like to get off the island more often not at the price Auirgny charges.
Maybe the Alderney residents should have a say for once!
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Let’s hope we see some investment in island tourism from Aurigny? They are currently only reactive to demand and don’t appear proactive in driving business towards Alderney.
I’m sure a long liturgy of failed BI routes will follow but surely they only failed because not enough bums were on seats. It’s better to have tried and failed than never to tried at all?
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So Healthspan will be proving everybody right then and throwing their dummy out of the pram. Mr G, you can fly to Bristol already via Guernsey. Bristol to Alderney on a Trislander is not an experience that people will want to have twice.
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Through these wicked threats, he is only vindicating his many critics.
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@ Alderney Resident
Have you seen the fare that BI charge on their Guernsey- Southampton route? Very similar to Aurigny’s Alderney-Southampton (both starting around £60 one way and rising to £80s) If BI were allowed to operate, a pricewar would drive down prices for a year or so, and then prices would revert to normal because both carriers would realise lower fares were unsustainable…. look at GCI-JER to see this, Both carries drop prices drop down to £25 one way last year, and now back up to low to mid 30s.
Furthermore, the reason why this route costs so much more than others in the Aurigny network is because Aurigny’s costs are very high on this route. Flying a trislander that far isn’t the most economical thing to do!
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A valid point made about toys and pram, certainly looks that way. Not the first time that toys have left the pram either.
Direct competion can make both Airlines operate at a loss on those routes. Jersey – Guernsey link springs to mind…
Makes sense to open up routes to other airports, widen the catchment and protects the Islands own Airline.
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On one hand you could say on behalf of Mr Coats
“toys out of pram”
On the other hand you could say to Alderney states
“wanting their cake and eating it”
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Pyer, Betty and others:
This is not a case of toys out of pram at all!!! Blue Islands is a business. Does Alderney expect charity from overseas businesses it does not support?
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Whether good or bad the opportunity to have low-cost fares for a couple of years has got to be worth a try. Southampton is obviously the best choice for the UK because of the transportation links from the airport. Would anybody really want to sit on a tri-lander longer than that?
I would have thought the continued negativity towards Mr. Coates’ investment offers must drain the last bit of goodwill out of him. If I was him I’d find a nice little Island in the Caymans to invest in and leave Alderney ‘sit on the fence’ States members to turn the lights off when the last man leaves.
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@ Blue Doubtful.
I always use Aurigny but getting sick of paying £150-£200 just to get to Southampton. No wonder their flights are not full and not making money. I get that they dont make money but for god sake we need to get off this island at a reasonable price that people can afford. even if they price came down for a year or so I would personally be happy that i can at least get off cheaper. I would never bother flying through Guernsey or Jersey as it is stupidly expensive too.
I guess living on Alderney means you dont get the luxury of leaving unless you want to see a huge amount of money leave your wallet.
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I agree HelloBigboy – yet more dithering. If there is only room for one airline must it always be Auringy? BI/Aurigny and Alderney States could form a joint venture airline, an airline for Alderney, like Aurigny used to be.
Tourgis – dragging on forever. Marina – plenty of committee minutes but it all seems to have gone quiet again. Ferry – mumblings but no action.
We do have an epensive new nursing home though – at least those kids that do stay in Alderney can have a job wiping retired States members bottoms.
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HelloBigboy, I have sat on a Trislander for 1 hour 15 mins to Shoreham; a perfectly nice flight. Indeed, if you care to look at a map you’d see that Exeter, Southampton and Plymouth are equidistant from Alderney. So they really ought to try Exeter and Plymouth.
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If I may inject some facts into the emotion.
1. The application was refused because the statutory 6 months notice was not given. No other reason. Mr Coates can apply again.
2. Aurigny loses money on its £116 return tickets.
3. Volumes are down for 2010.
4. Aurigny is owned by the tax-payer.
5. Mr Coates can apply again, or for any other
destination.
My suspicion is that there is insufficient traffic on the Alderney Southampton route for two carriers. All that direct competition would do is lower fares until one dropped out. Then fares would rise again.
I believe that Alderney States should devlop a detailed travel strategy in conjunction with the airlines, with the intention of increasing volumes by lowering prices, and using other southern coast airports in addition to Southampton. Instead of simply accepting what the airlines provide.
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Why has there been so much misinformation published about this by all the media? The licence for which Blue Islands applied was NOT refused. The APPLICATION was turned down only because it gave such ridiculously short notice and did not conform with the requirements of the law. Blue Islands were invited to submit another application giving a longer notice period so that due consideration could be properly given,as would be expected of any business deal. If Mr. Coates is so keen to help Alderney surely he could wait a few more months, or even a year.
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The Braye Beach is a wonderful hotel, but sadly it was always going to be a bit of a white elephant as the cost in getting to Alderney will always make it too expensive (unless you are a very wealthy owner and can afford to offer free seats on your airline to fill hotel beds)
Aurigny have always provided a great service for alderney, yes it is expensive, but unless the States build a longer runway so that larger aircraft can use the airport, then thats the way its going to be.
Why does Mr C not re-start our Jersey link that was killed off when he started to compete on the route with Aurigny?
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I guess I can see two sides, like most news items. On the one hand Derek has invested heavily in the Braye Beach Hotel & Divers, which would otherwise probably still be empty and does bring people on island & provide employment. On the other hand, can such a small island really afford an open market, both at the harbour & airport? The answer is probably yes, but only in the short term, once the profits turn to loss you are back to square one as the shareholders pull the plug and either or both airlines stop the route. One can apply the same test to other areas, bakery, dairy, campsite – would 2 of either survive in todays market climate? Answers on a postcard – how about another old folks home? I will get my hat!
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Truth Man, what’s charity to do with any of this. Healthspan aren’t getting what they want and so will pull out? They market their hotel at those with a money so why not just book with Aurigny and charge what they need to. Fill the flights, prove that there is a market for 2 operators? Pretty sure Aurigny employs more residents than Healthspan? Mostly their staff live on the island to work here rather than work to live here.
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Wouldn’t it be far cheaper for Healthspan to subsidise their Alderney hotel customers up to 50% of the Aurigny air fare to Alderney than to try to run a lossmaking air route?
Just a thought…
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Guessed That:
It seems that some would have BI operate at a loss for the good of Alderney. That would be charity.
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I wouldn’t blame him if he did pull the plug. Why should he keep throwing his money at this, when all he gets in return is hassle.
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@ Alderney Resident – It does indeed cost a fair bit to get on and off the island and it always will be expensive, no operator can make the fuel cheaper, the engines last longer, reduce the landing fees and passenger charges etc…
However, look at what residents in the UK often spend on transport and compare to what we do here. Few of us drive brand new cars and those we do drive do few miles, insurance is cheap too.
If you took the 3 years cost of running a new Ford Focus on the mainland (fuel, servicing, depreciation, insurance) you’d be looking at £16,000 – that would by a lot of return flights to Southampton would it not?
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why isn’t Blue islands allowed to compete with Aurigny?
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@ Hello
I understand UK residents have driving costs, but i dunno if you live on Alderney but everything here costs the earth. as a family we barely survive feeding ourselves with food costs, oil and electric. at least if we lived in Guernsey/ UK we could feed ourselves ten times cheaper. anyway this is besides the point. I am angry that once again us in Alderney cannot afford the costs of flying and i wouldnt be surprised if you see all airlines pull out and we are stuck on a little pebble all by ourselves with no support. Blue islands gave us hope that flights would be cheaper and they would help support getting tourists to our little island thus helping us as a community.
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Hi Alderney Resident. I do live here on the island. I agree that some things are more expensive than the UK whilst other costs are lower, Council Tax, Income tax, no VAT etc, motoring, water bills, insurance.
Our household expenditure here is lower than UK and that includes at least one of us flying to the UK once a month.
I’m not sure you could feed yourselves 10 time cheaper in the UK?
I do agree you though that the support BI offered in getting tourists here would have been very welcome. I’m not sure 25% cheaper flights would have been sustainable for long, unless we accepted just the one daily flight in the winter, or even every other day? The service we receive is not bad but it comes at a cost.
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Aurigny being owned by the Bailawick of Guernsey will have a duty to fly regardless of profit. A private airline does not have that duty.
Why risk any profit making, or break even making potential of a route by introducing a second airline on it.
What happened to the Jersey Guernsey route when it was opened up to a second airline does not bode well for doing it again.
My taxes go towards covering Aurigny, which is a vital service States owned. Would be folly to jeopodise this service on the Alderney route by introducing the potential for two airlines to make a loss by there being not enough bums to fill seats.
If BI were that intent on bringing more people to the island then they could look to open up routes to other airports within comfortable range of an ATR. BI could even look to do package holidays with hotel stays with Aurigny on the Southampton route if they really wanted to fill the beds. Other hotels in Guernsey do this, it is not an unknown practice.
No body does stuff for charity these days, but there looks to be plenty of scope in what is available rather than the reaction as noted in the article above.
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To Hello in Alderney-”At least one of us can go to the UK once a month”-it sounds as if you have retired and have the financial security to do as you please.Food,electricity and oil cost a hell of a lot and families struggle-I know a lot of people who have left Alderney as the costs here have proved too much.Fine to retire here but air fares are prohibitive-look how many less people came for Alderney week 2010.
Holidays are a luxury-calculate how much just getting off here costs without the holiday cost on top!!I wish I could pop over to the UK once a month,but unfortunately the cost is too,too much-bills come first.
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I think we are all straying away from the point of this forum……….
Blue Islands have been told that they cannot fly to Southampton because they wished to start this service on March 27th 2011 and they needed to allow at least six months from application to being able to fly the route. They have been advised to re-apply.
BUT BECAUSE of this decision Mr.Coates who as part of his pitch to fly the Southampton route offered money to the States Of Alderney to promote Alderney as a tourist desination and help the Alderney Tourism budget. Mr. Coates has withdrawn his offer and would rather reduce flights to Alderney, possibly close his hotel here in Alderney for the winter. If this isn’t sulking I don’t know what it is !!.
He has not been told you “no will never fly this route just not at the moment” BI have to re-apply and adhere to the six month plan that other airlines had to go through. Infact his own airline Blue Islands formerly Rock Hopper had originally to do !!.
But, I still firmly hold the view that Alderney can certainly at the moment in our very own downturn can sustain one airline and I want it to be AURIGNY a firm I know and trust. Great friendly helpful staff, mostly Alderney based pilots and an excellent medi-vac service .
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We offered to run a year round shipping service between Guernsey and Alderney in the early 1990′s because we recognised that that was the only inexpensive way residents and visitors alike could travel to Alderney. Guernsey approved the service and we had sourced the ship but Alderney was not keen and positively discouraged us with punitive harbour charges. At the time there were two airlines battling it out on the Alderney/Southampton route. Aurigny won but it bought them almost to their knees. The rest is history.
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@ cut to the bone,
well said, this is exactly how most of us live here. the people on this island who have enough money to go away every month is lucky.
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@ Cut to the bone & Alderney Resident.
A tank of petrol here in the UK is now £72. I’ve just filled up a car and the tank will be empty by the end of the week. Commuting 10 miles each way in heavy traffic drains a tank.
The flight over to Southampton this morning cost me £77.
If you lived here there would be a whole new load of costs to take into account and household income would still be squeezed. The grass is not always greener.
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In this case the grass is greener in Alderney. Green spaces in the UK are getting scarcer and scarcer as more and more development goes up in urban areas.
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When considering the actions of Mr Coates in this, the words ‘baby’, ‘rattle’ and ‘pram’ spring to mind.
I know it doesnt make business sense to invest in something if the return on such investment isn’t right for the investor, but the manner in which the investment was purportedly withdrawn seems … the 3 words as above!!
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I think they should start up a route to Africa from Alderney.
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Why do airlines have to try and duplicate the same routes but do not try and launch new routes to other airports that are not yet already being flown to ?
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