Tourism lead calls for wider review of island’s air links
A wide-ranging review of Guernsey’s air connectivity needs to take place, a member of Economic Development has said.
Deputy Simon Vermeulen, who is the tourism lead for Economic Development, was speaking in the wake of this weekend's late aborted landing of a flight from Exeter.
He said that he contacted States' Trading Supervisory Board president Deputy Peter Roffey the morning after the incident, and had also recently spoken with the chairman and the chief executive of Aurigny about ongoing issues with delays and cancellations.
‘First and foremost I want to make sure what we’re doing is safe, and then I think Economic Development should conduct a wider review of our air connectivity and look at prioritising airports,’ he said.
‘I think we’re over ambitious with the number of destinations we fly to, given the small size of the fleet, and that’s causing a major disruptions to passengers.
‘How bad has it got to get before something is done? Every time there’s a delay, there’s a knock on to all the other flights. I think we need to prioritise Heathrow, Gatwick, probably Dublin, probably Paris, maybe even Schiphol (Amsterdam). I also think inter-island is massively important.
‘The biggest fall in passenger numbers is from Jersey into Guernsey.’
Deputy Vermeulen said Aurigny's issues were having a definite impact on the local economy.
‘Talking to people involved in the trust industry, they say they just cannot commute via Guernsey as it’s just not reliable, and they’re looking at looking at other alternatives.
‘I know another gentleman who was coming back on his private plane and due to land in Guernsey airport, but was told it was shut. He contacted Jersey and was allowed to fly in. Next thing, he moved to Jersey. That’s a very, very wealthy individual and we have lost all that tax take.’
In the past Deputy Vermeulen has been a staunch supporter of extending the runway, which would make it easier for other low cost airlines to operate and he thought the current issues would see these ideas revisited.
‘In the past, we’ve had airlines like KLM express an interest in flying a route from Holland to Guernsey,’ he said.
‘It opens it up to a wider array of aircraft types, but it also makes it considerably safer, and that should be front and foremost of our mind at the moment.
'I can honestly say that I feel too many risks are being taken, and something desperately needs to be done.’
