Vision for air links needed urgently

That they do has left the Policy & Resources vice president ‘flabbergasted’ as he points out it would be a waste of £360,000 on even more consultants.

This would end up being money spent in a policy vacuum and it is this that needs to be addressed urgently.

The failure at the start of the term to make meaningful progress on air links policy is abundantly apparent when one arm of government can spend more than a million pounds – Economic Development subsidising Heathrow – creating further debts for another through the losses being suffered by Aurigny, without articulating how it fits into a long-term goal.

Arguably, the fact that Heathrow has now shown some initial success in passenger numbers since the States last seriously debated the runway length makes it even less attractive to spend more money on the research now.

Open skies has resulted in more routes and cheaper fares, but it is very early days in judging how sustainable these will be. The States-owned airline yesterday said that the market has been destabilised, although it is part of that game too with its foray into Southampton and Jersey.

Look back at the PwC air links options report that fed into the last runway debate and it is clear that it is not just the upwards of £40m. capital costs of the extension that need to be considered.

Extending the runway to 2000m would mean that Ryanair could land here, for example, but the only way that they and other airlines actually would is with a hefty ongoing subsidy – that is the reality of the air market. There is an environmental and social impact too.

Guernsey already could have flights to Paris and Dublin without an extension, but even then the question remains to what ends and what is the acceptable cost to Aurigny?

To win support for the detailed runway report, its backers need to make out the case of why it is needed now and how it can be compiled ahead of having a clear vision for the future.