Price of flights doubled in a day

I received an email from a UK partner on 30 May to advise a meeting was due to be held in the UK for all partners. If we didn't attend, our certification for the product would expire; it was imperative that as many employees as possible attend to receive the updates. (Our company has purchased the franchise for the Bailiwick.) I wouldn't want anyone to be under the illusion that we are multimillion pound company complaining over a few pounds - we are a small business. I emailed back to ask for a definite date ASAP as I knew the fares would increase significantly, imminently.

I checked the prices online and decided our business could afford to send three of our five employees at £132 each. I received another email on the evening of Tuesday 3 June, saying 'the meeting was likely to go ahead on the 18 June'. I could not book tickets on the advice that it was likely. I asked for a definite answer, because there was no way I could afford to book astronomically priced flexible tickets.

I received an answer in the morning of the 4th. As soon as I knew the meeting was definitely going ahead, I went on to Aurigny's website to book the tickets only to find they had almost doubled to £254 per person.

I spoke to the ladies at Aurigny's help desk a couple of times. The first time I was told I needed to book a ticket in order to have a reference number, then they could look into my query. I booked the tickets and gave the reference number to Aurigny. They were very prompt in calling me back. The only information they had was if you don't book before 14 days of departure, you have to pay the higher tiered tickets – no explanation as to why the price doubles within 12 hours. Had I booked two separate one-way tickets, I could have saved £30. The lady said she would look into getting a refund for the amount I could've saved. Thankfully she did but it didn't solve my problem of paying £762 in comparison to the £396 I could have paid the previous day.

Below are price comparisons of flights from Jersey to London Gatwick, on a selection of dates leading up to 18 June.

4 June

easyJet (Jsy-LGW) British Airways (Jsy-LGW) Aurigny (Gsy-LGW)

1st flight out and last flight in

£47.98 £86.56 £254

5 June

£57.98 £95.56 £254

10 June

£73.98 £166.56 £304

13 June

£76.98 £186.56 £304

17 June

£105.98 £203.56 £304

Unfortunately I had already booked the ticket with Aurigny and there wasn't a connecting flight from Guernsey to Jersey that would have enabled us to take up the cheaper flights.

I cannot fault any of the Aurigny staff who were helpful, polite and understanding.

My criticism is towards those higher up who make the executive decisions in pricing structures. I completely understand the need for fares to increase closer to departure date but as you can see from the prices above, Jersey have the choice of three airlines to get to London Gatwick with competitive fares, whereas Guernsey has only one, which has absolutely no competition and can charge whatever it pleases.

Which brings me on to easyJet, why was the decision made to not allow them to compete against Aurigny? Because Aurigny would have needed to lower their fares to compete. And yes I am aware easyJet is a much larger company than Aurigny and has the facility to offer the low-cost fares.

The flight to London Gatwick had approximately 15 seats empty. If the prices had increased slowly (like easyJet and British Airways) throughout the 14 days before departure, would those seats have been filled? Who knows? The average, hard-working Guernsey person cannot afford £250-£300 per person for a return flight. And sometimes through no fault of our own, we don't have the opportunity to book in advance.

Aurigny, you have got us over a barrel and there is absolutely nothing we can do it about.

Oh and please don't reply with your automated copied and pasted message that I have already received. Instead, please look into your pricing structure in comparison to other airlines. And the States of Guernsey, please can you seriously discuss bringing in a real low-cost airline that is affordable?

loupylou2001@hotmail.com.

Name and address withheld.

Editor's footnote: Aurigny's commercial director, Malcolm Coupar, responds: 'Thank you for the opportunity of replying to your reader's letter. As an airline owned by the people of Guernsey and run for the people of the Channel Islands, it is vital that we strike the right balance between protecting lifeline routes for the community and being an economically viable commercial operation. Our goal is to find a good compromise in prices to ensure the sustainability of services.

We have agreed with our shareholders, the States of Guernsey, that at least 60% of our customers will pay fares of less than £67 plus APD. This customer was unfortunate in that their booking decision straddled a day in which our prices rose significantly. Had the decision to travel been made 24 hours earlier or later, this big difference in fares would not have arisen. Unfortunately, there is never a 'right' time for fares to increase, but they must at some stage to balance the low fares we make available to customers who book in advance.

2014 is a key year in the development of Aurigny as we replace the capacity removed by Flybe through the introduction of our new jet service.

The airline is on a learning curve on our London Gatwick services and therefore prices are more volatile than they would be in a mature market and it is not always possible for us to manage the fare increases slowly because of the number of factors involved. This is a year of real change for us so it is pleasing to hear your kind comments about our customer services staff. It is a job that can be both difficult and stressful at times so it is great to hear that we are maintaining high standards and we thank you for your words of appreciation.

Finally, I think it is important to clarify the position regarding easyJet's interest in flying to Guernsey. At no time did easyJet formally apply for a licence to serve Guernsey. The airline was not discouraged from flying here by the States – easyJet made their own decision not to operate here, and cited the length of the runway as one of their reasons.'