The Assembly agreed on Thursday to a new flight policy, meaning airlines will no longer need an air transport licence to fly to and from the island, except on the protected Gatwick and Alderney routes.
Blue Islands holds licences to fly to Southampton, Jersey, Glasgow, Liverpool and Cardiff, some of which had stipulations on the number of rotations and a requirement to fly 364 days a year.
Chairman Derek Coates said he was very disappointed with the States’ decision.
‘We maintained that the arrival of open skies would have a long-term detrimental effect on the year-round air services that Guernsey currently enjoys, with a reduction in the high-frequency, year-round services that leisure, business, sporting and medical travellers have historically relied on,’ he said.
‘Blue Islands has in past years been able to invest in route development out of Guernsey and grown its business as part of its commitment to the Channel Islands, with some limited comfort from the protection that licensing provided, against the possible arrival of predatory summer entrants by other airlines.
‘The regrettable unintended consequence of this decision is, as we advised, to change our business strategy and model.
‘Therefore, because we are now no longer bound by licence obligations to operate some half-empty winter flights, we will implement our Plan B, which we prepared in the face of this possible challenge arising.
‘It is with deep regret as an island airline that part of this refocus will inevitably be the removal of all the non-profitable off-peak flights in the winter months, that used to lose us money.
‘Passengers will in future have no alternative but to pay higher fares on the available seats that remain unsold on our revised winter schedule to help fill the empty seats on our aircraft.
‘We will now be able to use the resulting aircraft availability to focus on the more profitable routes of our network, thereby maintaining our own business viability.
‘We apologise to the people of Guernsey that we will now be compelled to make these changes.’
Its original Jersey licence had a requirement for flights 364 days a year with a minimum of six rotation’s a day on weekdays, three on weekends and bank holidays, while running planes with a minimum capacity of 14 passenger seats.
Blue Islands franchise partner FlyBe said: ‘The approval by the States of Guernsey to liberalise air routes is welcome news and the competition will be of great benefit overall for Guernsey.
‘The open skies agreement opens up much needed opportunities for those operators interested in introducing new routes to and from the island and Flybe can confirm that the announcement will not interfere with its existing Channel Island operations or of any future plans it might have.’
Guernsey Chamber of Commerce president, Barrie Baxter, said vote demonstrated the island’s politicians are mindful of the needs of business and families.
‘It is a major step in the right direction,’ he said.
‘Transport is a key enabler of business and we need to send out this clear signal that Guernsey is keen to encourage people to come here.
‘It is also vital for those working here and for families and individuals to be able to enjoy holidays or easily take business trips off-island.
‘Chamber applauds the decisiveness in this 22 to 14 vote.
‘We will now begin to poll our membership to see how we can help to deliver data-based facts and figures as part of the whole transport scenario.
‘Guernsey PLC needs as much information as possible to be able to make informed decisions on these crucial areas going forward,’
Although the skies are now open to competition from new airlines, one company whose planes routinely fly to Jersey remained coy on the idea of rolling out flights to the island.
A spokesperson for easyJet said flying to and from Guernsey remained difficult.
‘Flying to and from Guernsey continues to be an operational challenge for easyJet, however we continue to review commercial and operational opportunities and we work with the airport should there be an opportunity in the future.’
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