Aurigny ‘wanted more than £3m. for fewer flights’
AURIGNY bid for a greater subsidy than the £3m. losses it is making on the Alderney routes, but offered a reduced service in return, according to Economic Development.
The committee went public with details of the offer days after the airline expressed disappointment when all the tenders to run Guernsey to Alderney and Alderney to Southampton were rejected.
On Friday, ED president Deputy Charles Parkinson had threatened to do so: ‘If they allow their press release to stand, and fail to disclose the terms they offered – I will,’ he had tweeted.
‘Aurigny has recently been operating the Alderney routes using four Dorniers, being two new NG models and two older models used to meet the requirements of the schedule agreed with the States of Alderney under a service level agreement and to provide back-up when either of the new aircraft are out of service. Aurigny’s accounts show that these routes operate at a loss of £3m per annum,’ the committee said.
‘It was therefore a surprise to the team evaluating the bids under the proposed PSO [public service obligation] on the Alderney routes when Aurigny submitted a bid based on a much-reduced schedule operated by only two aircraft.
‘Under this proposal, the capacity on the Alderney-Southampton route would be virtually halved, and there would be no resilience in the proposed fleet to cover periods when one or both of the aircraft were out of service.
‘The proposed service level fell far short of the specification in the Invitation to Tender (for the PSO contract), and far short of what Alderney requires.
‘Even more surprising, to the PSO team, was that Aurigny wanted a subsidy greater than the losses currently being incurred in their four-aircraft operation.
The PSO process would not allow the States of Guernsey to negotiate a reduced service level with one of the bidders. All of the bidders have to be allowed to bid for the same specification of services. None of the other bids received were wholly compliant with the terms specified in the Invitation to Tender.’
Aurigny took out out a total of £15m. in loans with the States to purchase the four Dorniers between 2014 and 2016.
A follow-up meeting was held with all of the bidders with an air operators certificate, one of the qualifying criteria for the tender.
‘So there was a clear opportunity for Aurigny’s representatives to make any comments in relation to their submission that they wished to make at that time,’ said the committee.
‘The Committee for Economic Development shares the frustration of the people of Alderney that this process did not have a satisfactory outcome, but stands by the people of Alderney in insisting that the winner of the PSO process should provide Alderney with the connectivity that the island needs.’
On Friday, Aurigny said it was very disappointed with the outcome of the process and said it had submitted a bid that was sufficiently compliant to be accepted.
It said it was considering its next steps and expected to comment more fully this week.