£400 return fare 'is pricing island out of tourist market’

Guernsey Hospitality Association president Alan Sillett said that many weekend flights to and from Gatwick with Aurigny over the next month were already sold out.

The seats that remain are typically more than £150 one-way, or as much as £209, without luggage, in some cases.

At times over the next 30 days, if booking late, it would now be cheaper to fly to Guernsey from Gatwick via Jersey than to fly direct.

‘If the pricing we are seeing in the current period carries on it will affect summer visitor numbers,’ Mr Sillett said.

‘Flights to Jersey are usually half of what it costs to fly here, but currently it looks like they cost just a third. So if you are looking to come on holiday to a Channel Island, you’ll look at the other one.’

Both Aurigny and its shareholder, the States’ Trading Supervisory Board, said that examples being quoted by the GHA were last-minute prices coinciding with peak travel periods around school holidays, and that capacity on the Gatwick route this month was almost identical to March last year.

‘Most people who planned to travel in March will therefore have booked their flights some time ago, to take advantage of the many cheaper fares that will have been on offer,’ said STSB president Peter Roffey.

‘So it is unfair to suggest that what would generally now be last-minute bookings reflect the full range of seat prices that will have been available.’

Mr Sillett said that after recent problems at the airline with long delays and cancellations, it appeared that Aurigny had reduced capacity on the Gatwick route, and increased fares significantly.

‘On several dates this month there are fares for one-way travel costing over £189, with some reaching as high as £209, and this is without baggage,’ he said.

‘With return fares adding up to as much as £400, we have to ask how are these high-cost air fares justified?’

Mr Sillett said that flights a month away were already selling out and seats that were left were in excess of £200.

He identified Saturday 6 April as an example.

On that day there are six flights from Gatwick to Guernsey with prices as of yesterday ranging from £189.99 to £209.99.

In comparison on the three Easyjet flights from Gatwick to Jersey the same day prices range from £38.99 to £124.99.

With a Blue Islands flight from Jersey that afternoon costing £84.99 it would be £66 cheaper to fly to Guernsey from Gatwick via Jersey.

However, flights the same day to and from Southampton and Bristol were cheaper for Guernsey residents than people from Jersey.

• Read more about the fare breakdown in Tuesday’s Press.