Poor visibility led to two days of serious disruption at the airport.
Aurigny, the island’s main airline, was forced to cancel or re-route more than 25 flights, with aircraft diverted to Exeter and Southampton on Wednesday night after long periods circling. Only two flights managed to get away after the fog descended at lunchtime.
One was Aurigny’s Leeds Bradford flight, arriving nearly nine hours late, at 9pm, which left G-PBOT as the only Aurigny ATR at Guernsey Airport overnight.
While that meant the 6.50am to Manchester departed on time yesterday, all other Guernsey passengers faced lengthy delays.
The Bailiwick Bar & Kitchen, located landside on the first floor of the terminal, was packed throughout the day yesterday as anxious passengers waited for updates and watched the misty runway.
The flights diverted on Wednesday started to arrive mid-morning. The 8.45am from Southampton – which was carrying passengers from Wednesday’s diverted 12.45pm flight from Birmingham – was the first to touch down just after 10.30am.
The ripple effects of the previous day’s chaos left many travellers scrambling for accommodation and alternative plans.
Major Philippi, who had hoped to attend a funeral on the mainland, was forced to cancel his trip.
‘I got up at 5am and waited, hoping the fog would clear,’ he said.
‘Sadly, it didn’t. The staff have been incredibly helpful, but it’s disappointing not to say goodbye to an old friend.’
Others, like Michael Froggatt, took the disruption in their stride.
‘The weather’s the weather,’ he said.
‘We’ve made contingency plans, and our hotel has a room if we need to stay another night. You just have to be sensible.’
Clare Cooper missed a connecting flight to Chicago and faced a £1,700 rebooking fee.
‘I live here, so I know how it goes,’ she said.
‘But I’m gutted. I was going to see my son.
'I’m hoping I can get to London and figure it out from there.’
A group of 19 travellers led by Anna Furlong endured a particularly difficult experience. Split across three hotels, some went without food and faced long waits for rooms.
‘We were tired, hungry, and worried,’ Mrs Furlong said.
‘I didn’t bring spare medication, and that’s been a real concern.’
Despite the challenges, passengers praised airline staff for their efforts.
‘They’ve been very good,’ said Mrs Furlong.
‘They booked us onto a flight to Jersey and then to Bristol. Hopefully we’ll get home by midnight.’
Travellers attempting to reach the island also reported disruptions. Among them were Sarah Hockey and Amelia Thomas, who were waiting at Gatwick Airport to make a first visit to the island.
‘The first day of our lovely trip to Guernsey that we have been looking forward to for months was tarnished by these extreme delays,’ the said. ‘We were shocked at the discrepancy between the service from Aurigny and other mainland services.’
They ended up arriving into Guernsey in the late afternoon, about four hours late.
By lunchtime flights were operating smoothly, but with long delays.
Aurigny was already leasing D-AASG when the disruption hit. It added a 180-seater A320 jet yesterday afternoon to run two rotations to Gatwick.
'With the upcoming school holidays meaning availability is more limited in the coming days, we're acting now to help get more people where they need to be as quickly as we can,' it said.
The airport agreed an extension to 11.35pm – the latest that could be offered – to try and get as many flights through as possible. But the fog came down again and most evening flights were cancelled.
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