Aurigny ‘a brand issue for Guernsey’ after fog delay

Passengers on the GR607 had been due to leave Gatwick at 4.15pm.

It was delayed and later flights cancelled as the disruption got worse, and delays were exacerbated by aircraft and crew being in the wrong place.

Late flights from Manchester and London City did get in after 11pm after holding overhead for up to half an hour, but three flights from Gatwick were ultimately cancelled, but not until passengers had been given late hope.

Island resident Jayne Ozanne said that she had become so frustrated with the lack of updates from Aurigny that she had rung air traffic control in Guernsey.

‘The lady on the phone told us if we didn’t get in the air in 10 minutes we would be too late to land,’ she said.

‘She managed to get through to someone at Gatwick on our behalf and we suddenly got called to a gate [at about 10.40pm].

‘Once we had all got through, showing our passports and boarding passes, a staff member came out and told us the flight was cancelled [just before 11pm].

‘There were elderly customers who had travelled from Australia and customers with young children, who had to carry them because pushchairs had been checked in, expected to find accommodation on their own at near midnight.’

There were multiple complaints from passengers on social media about a lack of communication and staff presence from the States-owned airline.

Ms Ozanne said that Aurigny’s issues were becoming ‘a brand issue’ for the whole island.

‘We have always had fog, that is not the issue,’ she said. ‘When you have consistent bad weather you have good contingency planning and adequate staff to deal with customers when things go wrong.

‘You need to think of the most vulnerable, those with children and the elderly, but Aurigny do not seem to care. They have our emails and our phone numbers so why do they not communicate? Why was there no contact point on the ground at Gatwick?

‘This is now a brand issue for Guernsey.

‘Businesses and holidaymakers will not put up with this service and will go to Jersey and elsewhere.

‘This is not anti-Aurigny. I grew up with the airline and my father served as a captain with them for over 10 years, but I am not proud of what it has become.’

Ms Ozanne switched to an Aurigny flight from London City yesterday but that was also delayed, and landed almost four hours late.

Aurigny said that Monday’s fog had disrupted flights that evening and into yesterday.

‘We made every attempt to get all customers back to Guernsey, returning as many Aurigny aircraft to Guernsey as possible. Our dedicated customer services team were working into the early hours of this morning to support customers affected,’ the airline said.

Whatsapp communications were slow because of a high volume of contacts being received and staff had been reallocated to help with rebooking.

The airline said that passengers at Gatwick had been contacted by text and email.

‘Our hotel and transport booking partner in the UK extended their opening hours to assist with booking customers into hotel accommodation, and those who could not be booked into our partner hotels were offered the option to book their own accommodation and claim costs back through Aurigny.’

Monday’s fog in Guernsey meant visibility of less than 300m.