Aurigny ‘consistently exceeding fare targets’
AURIGNY has ‘consistently exceeded its fare targets’ on the Gatwick route since key performance indicators were introduced, according to Economic Development.
Around 320,000 of the airline’s 540,000 passengers last year were on the Gatwick route.
KPIs relating to seat capacity, service reliability and affordable fares were placed on the route in 2013 by the States to monitor Aurigny’s performance as the sole operator.
‘There was a notable step change in capacity in the years following Flybe’s exit from the route in April 2014,’ said the Economic Development committee.
‘While Aurigny’s purchase of the Embraer 195 jet allowed it to increase its capacity on the route within the constraints of its slot allocation, this is still short of its former level in a dual provider setting.
‘Capacity fell from around 530,000 by approximately 107,000 seats (or 21%) in 2014, and has remained stable since, at around 410,000 seats (the average for 2014-17).
‘This is in accordance with the capacity levels which Treasury & Resources anticipated could be provided by Aurigny in its 2013 policy letter.
‘Since 2014, there has been a slight downward shift in the number of passengers using the Gatwick route, combined with a marked improvement in passenger load factors – the proportion of seats on the aircraft which are filled on average over a calendar year.’
Last year, Gatwick flights were around 79% full on average and there were around 320,000 passengers.
Economic Development said 65% of the tickets sold last year were available at £69.50 or less, achieving the 63% target that was set in the annually-revised agreement.
‘In the four full calendar years following the T&R States report (2014-2017), Aurigny has consistently exceeded its minimum fare targets, by between two to seven percentage points.’
This KPI was criticised by the Aurigny Strategic review panel consisting of Deputy Lyndon Trott, Stuart Falla and Dr Andy Sloan as being ‘too specific, contradictory and restrictive’.
They thought it would be more helpful to apply a cap on how high fares can be sold at.
The airline has 13 destinations in its route network.
At a Scrutiny hearing last October, States’ Trading Supervisory Board president Charles Parkinson said Gatwick was the airline’s ‘only profitable route’.
