Here's why Aurigny should have a Rennes connection
THERE have been recent articles in the Guernsey Press about the latest losses made by Aurigny and also their blaming fog for decreases in passenger numbers. Three years ago, Aurigny announced that they would be flying the following year to Rennes instead of Dinard. This did not happen and Aurigny announced last year that this was 'still under consideration'. The following is a strong business case for flying to Rennes instead of Dinard:
The city of Rennes has a population of 209,000 and greater Rennes has a population of 313,000. Dinard on the other hand has a permanent population of 10,000.
Rennes has a railway station with direct connections to Paris (two hours + seven minutes) and other stations. Dinard does not have a railway station and requires onwards travellers to pay for a taxi to St Malo.
Rennes is an international airport and has direct flights to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Palma de Majorca and Ajaccio and Bastia in Corsica. In addition, Rennes has direct flights to Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Nice, Marseille and Toulouse in France. This gives passengers from Guernsey the opportunity to connect to these destinations through Rennes instead of having to travel North to London or Southampton. This would save time and expense.
At present, Guernsey is connected to St Malo by ferry and, in the case of foot passengers, competes very well on price with Aurignys connection to Dinard. Rennes would not suffer from this competition.
A direct connection from Guernsey to Rennes and the mentioned onward connections would create a substantial potential for developing tourism to Guernsey from Rennes in particular and France in general. Of course, this would need VisitGuernsey to actively develop this market which has been sadly neglected in the past by Guernsey (although not by Jersey).
Aurigny saw for themselves the demand from Guernsey for their summer flights last year to Barcelona. Unfortunately, they could not obtain a slot this year. An established connection with Rennes and its onward connections would offer both Aurigny and Guernsey Travel Agencies (and Guernsey passengers) the opportunity to arrange attractive packages in the future.
For those who wish to hire a car, Rennes not only has this facility but for many car drivers it would give them a head start. From Rennes, there are the A81/A11 motorways to Le Mans/Paris as well as the A84 to Caen. There are dual carriageways N24 to Nantes, N12 to St Brieuc and N24 to Vannes.
Aurigny is ignoring the massive potential of flying to Rennes and I would like to hear why – because Guernsey taxpayers are ultimately paying the price. Aurigny 'giving consideration' to this option over many years hardly gives the impression of Aurigny being 'dynamic' and forward thinking.
I look forward to their response.
WILLIAM B. MORRIS,
Address withheld.
Editor's footnote: Aurigny's commercial director, Malcolm Coupar, responds:
Thank you for allowing us to respond to this letter.
Your letter writer is correct, there is an attractive case for flying to Rennes and this is something we have looked at in detail.
However, when looking at any business case for a new route, we have to consider the costs as well as the market opportunities.
The costs of flying there, and in particular the costs at Rennes Airport, are significantly higher than Dinard. When taking everything into account, it's just not proved to be viable at this current time. However, it is something we keep under regular review.
