The airline said that the new aircraft would help to ensure the highest possible levels of operational robustness and reliability for the essential ‘lifeline’ routes from Alderney to Guernsey and Southampton.
It said that in the event of one aircraft experiencing technical issues, then the second aircraft will be able to take over operations with minimal, if any, delays, and provide further back-up and reassurance when urgent medevacs are required from Alderney.
While one aircraft may very occasionally be off island for a few hours to ferry crew or return to Land’s End for technical checks at Skybus, the permanent presence of both aircraft on-island will provide the highest level of technical back up in the recent history of Alderney air services.
When Aurigny used Dorniers for its Alderney route, two aircraft were only available for two-thirds of the year, as one of the two aircraft would require a significant engineering overhaul for long periods at a time.
Reliability for the Alderney route is improving, Aurigny said, with the only significant challenge to operations over the peak Easter holiday occurring on Good Friday, due to unavoidable operational constraints relating to weather and localised fog.
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