Almost 200 Alderney residents attended the peaceful protest, which was arranged at short notice, to demonstrate the frustrations of air services to and from Alderney, which have seen several cancellations so far this year.
And Alderney services between both Guernsey and Southampton are being disrupted this week due to a lack of pilots at operator Skybus.
The island’s States has even made an official complaint to the States of Guernsey, which reduced the subsidy for Alderney flights last year.
Cindy Walden was the coordinator behind the meet-up, which saw a surprise appearance from Aurigny CEO Nico Bezuidenhout, who answered questions outside the airport terminal for an hour.
‘This has been building up for years, to be honest, we’ve all been putting up with unreliable flights, cancellations and constant disruption, and it’s just worn people down,’ she said.
‘Lately it’s started affecting really important things like medical appointments, work and seeing family, and people just aren’t willing to accept that anymore. It just felt like the right time to come together and say enough is enough.’
Ms Walden said that from outside the island it may just look like delays or a bit of an inconvenience, but for the people of Alderney, connectivity was about getting to medical appointments, work, seeing family or getting off the island in an emergency.
She said that they did not know the Aurigny CEO would be turning up.
‘I think people were glad he turned up and faced the community, but there is a still a lot of frustration. People want proper answers, not just words, but everyone stayed calm and respectful, which was really important to us,’ said Ms Walden.
‘I think people want to be [confident in his responses], but there’s definitely some caution. We’ve heard things before, so now it’s about actually seeing change, that’s what will build confidence.’
Following the protest, Ms Walden said that there was still frustration among islanders, but also a real sense of coming together. The tone had changed from anger to a feeling of ‘we’re not putting up with this any longer’, she said.
She said that the protest was not about looking to cause trouble, but bringing people together and being heard.
‘We just want to see things actually improve so people can feel a bit more secure in something that’s meant to be a lifeline,’ she said.
‘This all came together in a weekend, which shows how strongly people feel. We’ve been heard, so now it’s about what actually happens next.
‘We don’t expect everything to be fixed overnight, but we do expect to start seeing real change.’
Ms Walden has also started a petition calling for reliable air links in Alderney. A physical petition which was taken to the protest has passed 200 signatures, with another 300 collected online.
‘We want as many people as possible to sign, not just residents but anyone connected to the island, because it affects a lot of people,’ said Mrs Walden.
‘It’s about showing how strongly people feel and making sure this can’t be ignored.
‘We’ll be taking it forward to the relevant authorities to push for proper action.’
The online petition can be accessed at www.change.org/p/alderney-air-link-protest