Aviation Action Group chairman slams Aurigny plans to sell jet
An influential Guernsey aviation group has criticised Aurigny’s plans to sell its jet.
Aurigny announced earlier this week that it is likely to sell its Embraer jet, the largest aircraft in the fleet, and replace it with a further two 72-seater ATR aircraft.
The Guernsey Aviation Action Group’s chairman Barry Cash said the move was a case of ‘the tail wagging the dog’.
‘It’s what Aurigny wants to do to reduce costs,’ he said.
‘They are doing it for the benefit of Aurigny, not the benefit of the people of Guernsey, and it will have implications further down the line.’
He said that airfares in Guernsey were still very expensive compared to Jersey, and he did not see how this move would change that.
‘The jet was bought nine years ago to give the required capacity on the Gatwick route. Are they now saying it was wrong to buy it? How are they going to provide the capacity?’
Aurigny has said in the past that it wanted to rationalise aircraft to reduce costs, removing the jet and Dorniers from the fleet.
‘But is two more ATRs the way to go about it?’ said Mr Cash. ‘It will require more staff and does not look cost-effective.’
He added the jet was also something the business community wanted, as something of ‘a status symbol’ for the island.
‘And it is business and finance that underpin the Guernsey economy,’ he said.
