Majority of businesses want longer runway – Economic president
GUERNSEY'S business community is telling the Committee for Economic Development that it wants a longer runway, its president told the States Scrutiny Management Committee yesterday.
And Deputy Peter Ferbrache agrees with that approach, he said, as he faced the States scrutineers in a two-hour session dominated by air and sea links.
'Primarily businesses are saying to us, and there is a clear majority view, that we should be extending the runway. They think it would be an economic enabler, that it would say that Guernsey is open for business, and that is the clear view of the finance and tourism sectors,' he said.
Deputy Ferbrache, however, said his committee had recently rejected the idea of proposing the capital spend on an extension to the Alderney runway, although that is favoured by States-owned airline Aurigny, which does not support the Guernsey runway extension. He said the committee had been unconvinced that the capital spend would result in any extra benefits to the Alderney economy.
The committee is supporting the development of the proposed Waves 'air taxi' as a possibility for greater flexibility in inter-island travel. 'They are not going to have all the answers, but it gives flexibility, and it could be that Alderney has to go back to Trislander-type services,' Deputy Ferbrache said.
