Idea to merge airport and Town fire services ‘is a non-starter’

Chamber of Commerce director James Ede-Golightly put forward the suggestion as one of several ideas that Chamber believes could help solve the Bailiwick’s air travel issues, along with merging Aurigny and Blue Islands.

He thought that merging the two fire services’ management and staff ‘may improve resilience and deliver efficiencies’.

The idea has been raised previously, said Mr Le Page.

‘It’s been mentioned many times by people who don’t understand the operation of the two organisations,’ he said.

‘Whenever we’ve looked it with the airport management we’ve never been able to see where the efficiencies come from.’

He said the idea was first raised back in the 1960s and had been re-examined and dismissed several times since.

He had even written a paper for Home Affairs on the subject and the committee had accepted that it was a non-starter.

Mr Ede-Golightly also suggested that Aurigny and Blue Islands be merged.

Aurigny declined to comment, but Rob Veron from Blue Islands said the two airlines already worked in partnership.

‘We enjoy a strong working relationship with Nico [Bezuidenhout, Aurigny CEO] and the team at Aurigny, working together on our Southampton codeshare and ground handling, plus supporting each other where possible with ACMI [aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance] cover, parts supply and other areas where we can make a positive difference.’

The ideas raised by Chamber included some that have already been extensively reviewed by Guernsey Ports and were going to be subject to further assessment, said ports’ incoming managing director Ross Coppolo.

‘We regularly review opportunities for new revenue and efficiencies within the running of the ports,’ he said.

‘As a result of this work, around £600,000 of cost savings have been identified this year, primarily at Guernsey Airport, and are included in 2025’s approved budget.’

There were also ‘numerous’ commercial opportunities in the works which he said were expected to raise an extra £500,000 of non-aeronautical and non-maritime related income next year, with others being developed for the future.

‘As always, we are happy to continue to engage with all stakeholders on ways to improve Guernsey’s connectivity by air and sea.’

Chamber is also keen to see the expansion of Guernsey’s runway by adding Emas – engineered materials arrestor system – where crushable material is installed at the end of the runway to help stop an aircraft if it overruns.

Although the States dismissed the idea by a large majority last September, Guernsey Aviation Action Group chairman Barry Cash still believes it is the best option to ensure growth in arrivals by allowing larger aircraft to land.

He compared figures from Jersey and the Isle of Man and said that while the former saw arrivals increase by 10.6% in 2022-23 and the latter by 15.4%, Guernsey’s rose by only 6%.

‘Before that, arrivals in Guernsey were going down,’ he said. ‘There’s been no growth over the last 10 years.

‘I really think that Emas is something that needs to be looked at sooner or later – ideally, sooner.’

n The Institute of Director’s breakfast meeting on Friday is on the theme Connected Guernsey: The Future of Airlines, and is due to include representatives of Blue Islands, Aurigny, States’ Trading Supervisory Board president Peter Roffey and Louise Congdon from York Aviation. It starts at 7.45am at the OGH. Tickets are available from Eventbrite.