WATCH: ‘Aurigny has got a lot of things going for it’
AURIGNY’S new boss has offered an optimistic assessment of the airline’s future – while stressing the need to break even to successfully fulfil its role as an economic enabler for Guernsey.
Nico Bezuidenhout said the ‘building blocks’ were already in place to construct a good strong carrier for the community that it serves and promised to bring his extensive aviation industry experience to the role.
The Aurigny chief executive officer has run a range of airlines in size and scale, and was until recently chief executive of Mango Airlines, a subsidiary of South African Airways.
‘Aurigny has got a lot of things going for it. When I started doing my research on the airline and the island, the one thing that I saw is that the passengers of Aurigny see Aurigny as their airline. It’s Guernsey’s airline,’ said Mr Bezuidenhout.
‘There’s an emotional connection that doesn’t come cheap. It’s not easy to attain. So I think that’s something good to build on.
‘Aurigny is full of passionate people. People who don’t want to work for a loss-making airline, want to make an airline profitable, who want to be customer-focused.
‘The States have provided tremendous support to the airline during this difficult period of the pandemic.
‘So we’ve got all the building blocks to build a good, strong carrier that makes a difference to the community it serves.’
Asked if he saw Aurigny as a profit-maker or an economic enabler, Mr Bezuidenhout said: ‘I think it serves both. It needs to have an economic return. It needs to be financial sustainable. So therefore it cannot generate deep losses indefinitely, no business can. So in order for it to be an economic enabler, it needs to be financially sustainable.
‘So, we need to achieve a break-even in this business and there needs to be a path towards a break-even – so be financially sustainable and therefore then can enable the economy and the community that we serve.’
Aviation was a well-proven economic enabler that created jobs and stood at the core of value chains.
‘This pandemic has actually proven the value and worth, and need for airlines as connectors of people and as lifeline support infrastructure,’ said Mr Bezuidenhout.
‘There is a way to balance profitability and social obligation.
‘So that’s going be one of my key focus areas and something that I’ve had to grapple with for years throughout my career.
‘Efficiency, low-cost carrier operations is my DNA. So, efficiency is a key aspiration and almost an ethic, in a sense.’
A customer-centric approach was also critical, he said, making the airline deliver what its passengers and community needed.
Watch the in-depth interview with Mr Bezuidenhout here
Security and safety of island an attraction for Aurigny's new CEO
