Why are Jersey air links cheaper?

Last week I was looking for an impromptu trip to the UK (funeral), and was completely appalled at the price of flights, the cheapest flight was almost £300. This situation was further exacerbated when I checked flight prices between Jersey and the UK and found I could obtain a flight for less than £80 for the same date. How can there be such a disparity? Apparently, a lack of open skies policy and self-protection are two such reasons.

I then looked at inter-island flights and was faced with an infrequent service and a cost of over £120 for a 10-minute flight. Seriously, I'm at a loss as to why Aurigny gave up this route and how such a charge can be justified.

This situation needs to be addressed and quickly to ensure the island remains attractive to businesses. It's of little surprise that businesses and visitors are finding Jersey a more attractive opportunity.

As journalists isn't this something you should be investigating.

T. GRIFFITH,

St Martin's.

Editor's footnote: Rob Veron, Blue Islands CEO, responds: Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your reader's letter.

Guernsey has an impressive array of air links for an island of its size, predominately offered by two committed locally based carriers. Jersey is not a reasonable comparative to Guernsey. Jersey has a significantly larger local population, twice the economy and far greater tourism numbers. In 2015, Jersey's Gatwick market was twice that of Guernsey's alone, with heavy, unsustainable competition between a legacy carrier and low-cost carrier with vast economies of scale. This trend continues when reviewing the total number of passengers, with Jersey Airport handling almost twice that of Guernsey Airport during the first half of 2016 (see table below).

Your correspondent has not provided any detail on what flights were being researched so we cannot comment on that element of the letter, however, in terms of inter-island services, how can up to 16 flights (12 operated by Blue Islands and four operated by Flybe) between the islands per day be described as an 'infrequent service'? Blue Islands-operated inter-island flights have also delivered 96% on-time performance (8 August-7 September, excluding weather).

Unfortunately, the cost of fuel in the Channel Islands is the highest on our network, however, the fact that an inter-island flight is only a short distance is a small factor when calculating fares. The charges at Guernsey and Jersey airports are also the highest on our network, which makes approximately one third of the fare on an inter-island flight. Another third is attributable to various third-party suppliers such as ground handling, fuel and other airport services, etc.

The final third contributes towards aircraft, salaries, engineering, maintenance, training, insurance, rent, administration and infrastructure.

Air transport operations to and from small islands is costly. We would gladly pass on any cost savings to our customers, should the States of Guernsey and States of Jersey be forthcoming with more benevolent pricing of the ports.

Blue Islands shares entirely the desire for lower-cost services. This year Guernsey Airport has increased its charges at twice RPI, this is just one example of the ever increasing cost challenges we continue to face.

Despite this, fares on Blue Islands-operated inter-island services start from £39.99 one-way, the same as in 2014, and still includes free baggage and ticket changes (fare difference may apply) as standard. If these airports were viewed as key infrastructure, as opposed to revenue generators, charges could be reduced and they could become an economic enabler, with lower fares passed on to the consumer and driving the economies of Guernsey and Jersey.