Aurigny counts cost of falling bookings hit by Heathrow route

Aurigny had a monopoly on London services until this year.

But in March Flybe launched a daily service to Heathrow, which is being subsidised by the States of Guernsey to the tune of £825,000 for seven months. In May, Blue Islands launched a service to London Southend. Last month, Aurigny warned its profits were being hit by Flybe’s Heathrow service.

However, it is only the latest passenger figures that reveal the scale of the problem.

‘The June figures further illustrate how the London markets are being affected,’ an Aurigny spokeswoman said.

‘We are also seeing an impact on future bookings.’

The recently released figures for June show that 3,180 people used the Flybe Heathrow service, which launched in 31 March, and 1,874 the Blue Islands’ London-Southend service, which started in May. While Aurigny’s Gatwick service is still carrying many more passengers – with 26,618 movements during June alone – its numbers have fallen in June. Aurigny’s Stansted figures have also taken a hit.

There were nearly 1,500 fewer people using the Gatwick service in June compared with May and the service numbers are down nearly 2,400 compared with the same month last year.

On the Stansted service there were 2,175 passenger movements – fewer than in May or April, and the route is currently trailing 11% down on the year to date compared with 2018.

Blue Islands said it had enjoyed a strong start to 2019, with a 10% increase in passengers.

‘It carried 182,502 passengers on board its scheduled services in the six months to June, compared to 166,134 in the same period in 2018. June also saw the airline break its previous record for the highest number of scheduled customers flown in a single month, carrying 38,485 passengers to and from the Channel Islands during June, up 16% compared to June 2018.

Blue Islands CEO Rob Veron said the business continued to be a sustainable, local commercial operation. ‘As our new routes, new ground handling team and fleet upgrades demonstrate, Blue Islands is undergoing a period of expansion,’ he said. ‘As typical of any business, we routinely explore all investment options to support expansion plans and the airline’s long-term future in the Channel Islands. For example, we are currently reviewing network development opportunities presented by our partnership with Connect Airways, the opportunities presented by open skies in Guernsey and how we optimise fleet structure to support our long-term ambitions.’