Air Alderney takes delivery of first plane

The eight-seater Britten-Norman Turbo Islander will now be stationed permanently on Alderney, with another Islander ready by the spring.

The first flights scheduled to take place are to Jersey and Cherbourg and in the spring, Air Alderney director Danny Brem Wilson wants to start up flights to Lee-on-Solent, close to Southampton.

Mr Brem-Wilson said he aimed to also fly to Brighton City Airport – Shoreham – and offered to provide medevacs when they gain their Air Operator’s Certificate.

All the key staff posts are now filled to allow them to apply for their certificate AOC.

But plans to wet lease a Piper Chieftain to provide flights until the AOC is obtained have been put on ice after reaching an impasse on the issue of whether they could take over the mail contract from Aurigny – he says they have had no feedback on it.

His team is visiting destination airports in the next few weeks to establish nail down how much it will cost to establish a scheduled service to them.

Mr Brem Wilson said: ‘We will probably end up with six in the next six months.

‘We are serious – we are setting up offices in Number 2 Victoria Street, we have an office at the airport, hangarage, we are setting up ticketing systems; it’s quite a busy time. We will be submitting our application for the AOC this week and then it’s up to the licensing authorities as to when we can start the service to Jersey.’

He said they hoped to offer a single ticket to Lee-on-Solent for around £70. The airport – which has a lot of public investment going on around it – is 17 miles from Southampton and they would offer a minibus service to the nearest station.

‘We are carrying eight people, so even when we are carrying small numbers it’s more economical to run the plane with more frequent services,’ said Mr Wilson.

‘Hopefully when they use the service it should be good enough for them to say we will use it again.’

Air Alderney is renovating a second Islander, painted in the style of a puffin.