Guernsey Press

Airline moves out of holding pattern

WITH a new website, new fare structure and a set of in-house baggage handlers busy being trained at Gatwick there is at last a sense of activity at Aurigny.

Published

Whether the new fares prove as enticing as the airline hopes remains to be seen but there has to be thanks that the state of torpor that has afflicted the airline since the ill-fated strategic review started is finally being cast off.

Passively losing millions a year is unacceptable, even if the airline is seen as an economic enabler. Staff and management must be allowed to drive the business forward with fresh ideas, despite the hope for eventual profit being a slim one.

Only by taking action and developing new offers, routes and infrastructure can the airline identify what works in its unique position as state airline.

It can also then look honestly at the marketplace it operates in and learn from the best practice of its competitors and other small-market airlines.

The flexibility that the airline focused on with this week’s fares announcement was a mixed bag. Those who are willing and able to travel light, such as business travellers, daytrippers and people on a city break, are the winners. Families and holiday makers who cannot hope to cram all their belongings into two small bags will feel that they have lost out.

The proof of how that rings the sales register will come in the bookings over the coming months. But at least if it does not work Aurigny now has the technology and fare structure to learn about its market and adjust quickly rather than being straitjacketed into an unsophisticated product.

The success or otherwise of the three-tier fare structure will partly be judged on bringing in an extra 7,500 inbound visitors. Abandoning the ‘baggage is free’ mantra will allow the airline to promote its lowest fare in direct competition with the ‘everything comes at a price’ opposition.

However, for Aurigny’s political peace of mind it is the local market that must come first. The ‘islanders’ airline’ tag comes with the probably impossible expectation that not only will the airline stop losing money but it will do so while offering residents cheap travel. Stimulating the tourist sector comes a distant second.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.