Current P&R external relations lead Jonathan Le Tocq said a debate on the future of the airline, and aviation locally as a whole, including the runway and route licensing policy, would benefit the States, but it should not be based on the evidence of the figures attributed to Aurigny in the States 2024 accounts, which were published yesterday.
‘I don’t think there’s enough there to have that fuller debate, because that’s quite a big question,’ Deputy Le Tocq said.
Aurigny said last night that it had seen an operating profit of £1.7m. in 2023 turn into a loss of £6.5m. for 2024 in what was a bleak year for the airline, riddled with operational issues.
This is despite the airline generating more than £60m. in revenue – a 5% increase on the previous year – with record passenger numbers of 570,000, with approximately 13,800 flights operated.
Aurigny blamed unexpected wet leasing costs, aircraft maintenance and global supply chain issues for its loss-making position.
Deputy Le Tocq said Aurigny was a ‘good example in microcosm’ of Guernsey as a small island jurisdiction.
‘We are [both] sub-optimal in terms of economics and in terms of being exposed a lot to vulnerabilities. They had a bad year last year, and some of that probably wasn’t avoidable, but they’re not big enough to be flexible like bigger airlines might be. We ask an awful amount from Aurigny – I think the expectation is probably too high.’
He said he was open to investigating whether the airline still needed to be publicly-owned, or whether the States could perhaps partially own it.
But he said he did not think any airline in the British Isles was making ‘huge’ profits.
‘What we need to do is realise what is essential and what we should be asking Aurigny to focus on, rather than asking them to do things that they might be able to do one year, but then the next year it’s a disaster because an event happens and they haven’t got the flexibility or the reserves to cope.
‘The accounts don’t give us evidence of what that might look like, but they clearly demonstrate to me the volatility of Aurigny and other island businesses.
‘We perhaps expect them to operate like some [businesses] might in the UK, and really that’s asking a lot.’
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