‘We need to realise Aurigny is way forward for air travel’

But it needs to be run efficiently and cannot continue with multi-million-pound losses.

That’s the assessment of Deputy Peter Ferbrache, president of Policy & Resources, who has set out how air and sea links are a priority area for him.

‘I would like to see us change our Open Skies policy, which I voted for. Time has now moved on.

‘We need to realise that Aurigny, either on its own or perhaps with another entity, is the way forward for our air travel,’ he told a Guernsey Chamber of Commerce lunch.

‘It needs to be run efficiently. We cannot continue to have the multi-million pound losses as we’ve had in recent years, and we are predicting again for this year.

‘It needs to be altered and revolutionised.

‘We have a new chairman and a new chief executive, and I am confident that the ability of those gentlemen will come forward and that we will prosper from that relationship.’

He added: ‘We’ll be sharing a draft policy with government and with Aurigny over the coming weeks and expect to be able to make an announcement before the end of this quarter.’

On sea links, Deputy Ferbrache would like to see a 15- to 20-year deal with ferry and freight operator Condor that took note of Guernsey’s interests and did not favour those of Jersey. That would give the company the ability to invest in the contract.

Condor Liberation did not have public confidence, he said, while the overall fleet needed vessels that could get here regularly except in the most extreme of circumstances.

On discussions with Condor, he said more progress was needed but that the difficulty was not the operator or Guernsey.

‘The third person in the equation is Jersey, so I’m not mentioning who the difficulty is coming from.’

There was also a straight-talking message if a deal was not possible.

‘If that’s not possible, we will have to look elsewhere,’ said Deputy Ferbrache.