Following CEO Nico Bezuidenhout’s surprise appearance at Alderney airport to meet protests on Sunday afternoon, Aurigny chairman Kevin George said that the company’s board and management took the concerns raised by the local population and government in Alderney ‘extremely seriously’.
‘While our controllable performance has clearly been better since the introduction of the Twin Otter compared to the same period last year, we are determined that future performance will build further on these foundations,’ he said.
‘Our aim is for all stakeholders to share our confidence in the future and that is why we are taking immediate measures, together with Skybus, to strengthen operational robustness and ensure operational performance to the highest standards well into the future.’
Mr George and Aurigny CEO Nico Bezuidenhout met Jonathan Hinkles and Stuart Reid from Skybus to review Alderney milestones since the two airlines started to work together. They have also updated the plan to reinforce the Twin Otter fleet and crew training and have committed to a number of milestones.
From Easter weekend a second Twin Otter will be based in Guernsey, leaving two aircraft available for Alderney services and offering operational back-up.
The first Twin Otter to be dedicated to Alderney is set to receive final approvals from the UK Civil Aviation Authority in the coming days. It will be run by Skybus on its own services for six to eight weeks before it heads to Guernsey in late May, when it will become the primary Alderney aircraft.
An additional Skybus plane, based in Guernsey, will serve as full-time back-up, before a second aircraft is dedicated to Alderney services in October. Skybus planes will then serve as further back-up.
The airlines said that recruitment of dedicated crew for Alderney services had been completed and training should be finished by the end of June.
Training has been impeded by poor weather and a lack of aircraft availability.
Medevac services are now covered but there have been no call-outs since the new service has been ready to operate.
They also denied that cross wind limitations on the Twin Otter in Alderney are more disruptive than was the case for the Dorniers. Night-time capability is the same and Twin Otters have better performance at Alderney airport in wet weather.
But they admitted that with no availability of fuel at Alderney airport, payload is constrained and sometimes impacts passengers and baggage that can be carried, particularly on Southampton services if extra fuel is needed. Both airlines said they would fully support the restoration of a reliable fuel supply in the island.
Aurigny once again defended its flying record, saying that the Twin Otters had proved less disruptive than the Dornier fleet. Weather has led to 137 flight cancellations and more than 80% of all delays since the Twin Otters came into service in November. It said that controllable flight disruption had fallen.
Aurigny has pushed to build passenger numbers and offered extra capacity for Alderney Week, and said that 1,700 extra passengers had booked as a result, with more than 14,000 bookings on the route for this summer.
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