New ATR ‘Pembroke Bay’ lands in island
THE first of Aurigny’s newly-leased ATRs landed into Guernsey yesterday and is set to be named after Pembroke Bay.
And is seems the airline is reigniting its passion for beach names, with a G-PBOT also expected to be registered shortly.
The airline has taken on long-leases on two aircraft to help cover the shortfall left by the sale of the jet earlier this month.
The first landed from Reykjavik yesterday morning.
N1174 is a nine-year-old ATR 72. With a range of about 740 nautical miles, it took several hops to bring it across the Atlantic.
It departed Kinston regional airport in North Carolina on Wednesday to fly to Bangor international airport in Maine, before hopping across to Iceland on Thursday.
It then took nearly five hours to fly from Reykavik to then touch down into Guernsey just after 9am.
Aurigny CEO Nico Bezuidenhout said the move was a positive step towards providing customers with a more resilient and reliable service.
‘The aircraft type is a known quantity to Aurigny and, opting to lease rather than own this aircraft, the airline achieves a better mix between owned and leased assets, as called for by our shareholder-approved strategy,’ he said.
‘We also look forward to fostering a strong relationship with Jetstream, an established lessor with an existing presence within the UK and US regional aviation markets.’
The aircraft is having a safety inspection required by the UK Civil Aviation Authority before joining the airline’s fleet as G-PEMB.
Website Planespotters.net states the plane has had a lot of downtime, with it being stored in Guatemala City from March 2020 to June 2022, and then in southern France to April 2024.
The site also gives clues about the second aircraft Aurigny is leasing, which is expected to arrive later this summer.
It states that a 10-year-old ATR72, currently registered as OY-NZB, is set to be re-registered as G-PBOT and be delivered soon.
This appears to indicate it will be named after Petit Bot bay.
The website says this aircraft has also faced several stretches in storage – most recently from April 2022 to June 2024 at an airport in north France.
The airline has previously stated it plans to brand both planes up with the airline's well-recognised livery later this year.
The beach naming convention follows on from previous aircraft G-COBO, G-VAZN and G-LERE, which have since left the airline.
The current fleet is named G-OATR, G-ORAI and G-OGFC to recognise two local sports teams and the aircraft manufacturer.
