Twice-weekly direct flights to Paris begin

This was the first scheduled Aurigny flight direct to Charles de Gaulle Airport and saw 76 passengers booked to fly out at 10.50am. While the route will normally be operated by an ATR-72 aircraft, yesterday’s flight out was on the Embraer jet, which is due to be sold at the end of the month.

Ursha Choksey was delighted that the service was being offered and hoped it would continue.

‘It’s a miracle,’ she said.

‘I’m visiting my son in Paris and I used to have to get the boat to St Malo and then the train.’

Mrs Choksey and her husband moved to Alderney in 2022 and said that she hoped her son would visit them soon via the Paris-Guernsey route.

‘I have a daughter in Berlin, too – if they did direct flights to Berlin it would be even better,’ she said.

Among the people checking in yesterday morning there were many families with children and it was not hard to see where one group was heading, with Poppy Le Page, 6, and mum Mica sporting Disneyland Paris hoodies.

‘I want to go on a ride that goes upside down in the dark,’ said Poppy.

The family were due to spend five days at the resort and dad Rich said that as well as the easy connection, the low prices offered on a Black Friday deal had also encouraged them to book.

‘You can get straight there – it’s a 10-minute ride from the airport,’ he said.

They last went in February last year, but had to connect via Gatwick and stay overnight both ways which added to the cost.

‘We just thought we’d make the most of the opportunity,’ said Imogen Remfrey, heading to Disney in Paris with Bella, 6 and Monty, 11.

The easy connection was one of the attractions, with the family being collected from the airport by coach.

Flights to Paris are now available every Monday and Friday all year round. Aurigny said a few weeks ago that sales were going well.

The route is being subsidised by the States, probably spending more than £1m. over the next three years.