Booked early for 'cheap fares'
I HOPE your readers will forgive another letter about our local airline, but I felt compelled to put pen to paper. We are travelling to Paris in eight months' time and I recently went online to book our flights. For three adults, one child and one infant flying with easyJet on a one-hour and 20-minute flight from Gatwick cost £460. There was no charge for the infant.
Aurigny flights to Gatwick on a half-hour flight cost £540.86. This is with booking eight months' ahead. They also charged £38.86 for the infant who will be sitting on her mother's lap.
Someone will probably reply that you must book early to get cheaper fares. Well, if eight months isn't early I don't know what is. No wonder Guernsey does not attract visitors with these ridiculous fares.
J. GUILLE,
Address withheld.
Editor's footnote: Euan Mahy, Media Relations Manager at Aurigny, responds: 'Drawing a comparison between easyJet and Aurigny is misleading as the two operate different business models. Aurigny runs high-frequency routes to and from a small marketplace, the islands of Guernsey and Alderney, encompassing designated lifeline routes from Guernsey to London Gatwick and Alderney to Southampton. It will always be possible to find an easyJet fare that's cheaper than Aurigny's, much as a discount supermarket like Aldi will always be cheaper than a corner store.
This is possible because of the scale of the former's business and its buying power.
EasyJet has begun a new route from Gatwick to Paris and is offering discounted fares to attract business from other operators. It's also selling reduced fares from Jersey to Gatwick to try to win the route from BA. If it does, those fares will rise to a realistic, cost-driven level to make a profit for shareholders.
The booking your correspondent made is during the summer half-term holiday which is a peak time. Given that the adults are paying £65 each one-way, we don't consider that to be a 'ridiculous' price.
The fare charge for the infant is £9 each way. Aside from the infant, each person will be able to take 20kg of free hold baggage on Aurigny and will get a free drink and newspaper.
EasyJet charge for all of these services on top of the basic fare.
As to tourism, Aurigny works with VisitGuernsey to promote the island to visitors. We achieved record passenger carryings in August and we have a declared commercial goal of trying to fill flights into Guernsey on Fridays, with some notable success.
VisitGuernsey has reported an increase in staying visitors this summer so it is unfair to say that the island doesn't attract visitors and that air fares are a deterrent.
Tourism is an important pillar of Guernsey's economy and helps it be a diverse one. It is important that we all talk up the tourist offer, not talk it down.'
