Senator Ian Gorst, Jersey’s external relations minister, has told a scrutiny hearing in Jersey about the importance of London connectivity, and said that Ports of Jersey and the island’s Economic Development minister were like-minded on the issue.
‘I have been absolutely clear with Ports of Jersey – and we are perfectly aligned on this – that British Airways is absolutely critical to our economic future, the link to Heathrow is critical to our economic future, and an evening later rotation all-year-round leaving Jersey to go back to the UK with BA is also critical,’ he said.
‘I believe it’s so critical that if Ports of Jersey need financial support to deliver and maintain those, then I’m prepared and think it’s the right use for the competitiveness fund to support them.’
Guernsey’s public funding support for British Airways to run a daily Heathrow service has been both praised and criticised in recent months.
The Guernsey Aviation Action Group has claimed that a loss of passengers from Aurigny to British Airways this year originated from the local airline’s decision to sell its Embraer jet.
Aurigny has shifted some of the blame for its financial losses to the States-subsidised Heathrow service, alongside picking up services from the collapsed Blue Islands and rising fuel costs.
GAAG chairman Barry Cash said Aurigny could not blame British Airways for filling capacity to a London airport that it had removed from the market.
He said that the sale had taken Gatwick capacity from 620 seats a day to something more like 420. Heathrow was now adding a further 140 seats a day.
‘This figure is still less than the original capacity Aurigny offered before they sold the jet. They, therefore, cannot complain because another operator is filling a need they created themselves by selling the jet,’ said Mr Cash.
Garin Dart, the chairman of the Confederation of Guernsey Industry, has called on the Economic Development Committee and Aurigny to agree what the airline should be delivering for the community.
‘That’s the very first decision that should have been made from a commercial perspective, before handing out a subsidy,’ he said.
‘Why don’t we keep it simple? Why not do the lifeline routes and keep a spare ATR for technical problems and maintenance and Aurigny could break even and let BA and easyJet and the like serve holiday destinations?’