‘Now is not the time for States to consider extending runway’
THE body set up by the States to lead tourism has backed Economic Development’s plan to kick a runway extension into the long grass.
On the eve of another States debate on the issue, Tourism Management Board chairman Hannah Beacom announced that most of her members doubted that a longer runway would help the industry’s post-pandemic recovery.
‘The board has discussed this issue in detail and all board members but one came to the same conclusion – now is not the right time for the States to consider extending the runway,’ she said.
‘There is simply no correlation between runway lengths and post-pandemic air travel recovery based on the data we have reviewed from the UK Civil Aviation Authority. Our recovery rates are already good in comparison to other airports.’
Economic Development wants deputies to rule out an extension for the time being and hand future recommendations on the issue to the States’ Trading Supervisory Board, which oversees the airport and Aurigny.
But Economic Development member Simon Vermeulen has submitted an amendment which calls for the States to commit an estimated £22m. to lengthen the runway to 1,623 metres through the use of the Engineered Materials Arresting System known as EMAS. He believes it would attract larger aircraft and lower fares and wants the work started before the end of the States term in June 2025.
Economic Development president Neil Inder has claimed that the £22m. figure is misleading and that extending the runway with EMAS could cost up to £79m. because of the cost of associated works.
Mrs Beacom agreed that supporters of an EMAS extension were under-estimating costs.
‘Our runway’s surface is not strong enough to cope with larger aircraft on a regular basis and there has been little acknowledgement of the cost to reinforce the runway to accommodate larger aircraft,’ she said.
‘And even if the runway was extended and strengthened, at huge cost, there is no guarantee of new carriers. Many low-cost airlines would expect subsidies.’
Recent figures released by the airport revealed that between January and July this year it handled nearly 85,000 fewer passengers than during the same period in 2019, but nearly 40,000 more passengers than during the same period last year.
The Tourism Management Board said that air traffic recovery at Guernsey airport was more than double the rate reported at many UK airports with longer runways, including Southend, Exeter and Southampton.
It said that operators of larger aircraft were more influenced by the relatively small size of Guernsey’s population and that any money available would be better spent investing in the island’s tourism offer or directly subsidising travel costs rather than extending the runway.
