Aurigny Air Services
re mail order, I was referring to mail orders by the 2.000 or so people living on the island. I assume that particularly because of the lack of a choice of shops and larger department stores on the island, a lot of folks would resort to mail orders from Amazon and the likes - and these orders must be delivered somehow to the island. So is all that stuff flown into the island or is there parcel mail (and food) just once a week? I am surprised that the needs of 2.000 people can be catered for by a ship that calls once a week and cargo that be squeezed into 19seat passenger planes.
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Yes exactly. Only the weekly boat for food etc. Aurigny is the way in (and out) for people, mail (including parcels) and newspapers. Bumblebee has increasingly come into play for mail/parcels when Aurigny fail (as they have often done in the last year or so). There are no other options (currently). That is why there is such a strength of feeling on Alderney re the performance of Aurigny. That said I personally have flown with the airline many many times to or from ACI and it has to be said that the pilots (and ATC etc) do a great job in the face of weather and scheduling challenges.
I think ( don't know ) that the Scilly Isles & Orkney/Shetland/Hebrides services do enjoy a greater degree of insular satisfaction than Aurigny's Alderney services. Certainly, the Scilly Isles enjoy a far more frequent service than Alderney ( the population is a bit larger than Alderney's ). But, from what I understand, the fares are pretty steep. As far as some of the very small Scottish islands are concerned, there is a Government subsidy - is there not ? Having visited Westray, Papa Westray, Ronaldsay, Flotta, Sanday & Eday I have to say that they are far smaller communities than Alderney - so perhaps they appreciate their subsidized services a lot more than the Alderney community.
Alderney passengers have to pay fairly high fares (but less than Scilly Isles pax) & they have suffered from dependability, delay, cancellation issues associated with the "Dornier/Trislander debacle". But, I think that they should be at least a little grateful about what they generally do get from Aurigny , whilst I acknowledge that the airline has its failings, too.
Alderney passengers have to pay fairly high fares (but less than Scilly Isles pax) & they have suffered from dependability, delay, cancellation issues associated with the "Dornier/Trislander debacle". But, I think that they should be at least a little grateful about what they generally do get from Aurigny , whilst I acknowledge that the airline has its failings, too.
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I am informed that G-LGIS is due to return to GCI this month. There appear to have been certification issues relating to missing maintenance records. "Paperwork" is blamed for the delay, but with the ongoing Dornier saga who knows? It might not return in January!
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I guess the suggested timescale for the return of G-LGIS fits with the operational extension of G-RLON. Not long to go though before we find out if it will make it home before the end of January.
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Don't hold your breath.
On the Dornier theme, G-SAYE performed a Medevac yesterday (ACI-GCI). This may have been the first by a Dornier. It would be interesting to know how it performed. Concern had already been widely expressed that removing seats, as well as start-up times being considerably longer, will mean that the Dornier is never going to be as efficient as the Trislander for Medevac work.
On the Dornier theme, G-SAYE performed a Medevac yesterday (ACI-GCI). This may have been the first by a Dornier. It would be interesting to know how it performed. Concern had already been widely expressed that removing seats, as well as start-up times being considerably longer, will mean that the Dornier is never going to be as efficient as the Trislander for Medevac work.
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Start up time might be a bit longer on the Dornier, but at least you don't have to spend 5 minutes warming the Lycoming engines up before boarding pax.
Stretcher is now permanently fitted in G-SAYE. Can't look good for tourists!
SAYE couldn't carry many pax anyway so the loss of six seats is no issue.
Perhaps they could put the fishing rods on the stretcher
Stretcher is now permanently fitted in G-SAYE. Can't look good for tourists!
SAYE couldn't carry many pax anyway so the loss of six seats is no issue.
Perhaps they could put the fishing rods on the stretcher
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Thanks for that. Perhaps GR should now offer "sleeper class" on some flights from ACI when the stretcher is not in official use. Who knows, such a novelty might attract more pax to the route.
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G-RLON
Confirmed. It flew GCI-SOU as GR501, then SOU-ACI as GR502, and finally ACI-GCI. A lot of bad-weather disruption today. RLON should be active for a few more days.....
Confirmed. It flew GCI-SOU as GR501, then SOU-ACI as GR502, and finally ACI-GCI. A lot of bad-weather disruption today. RLON should be active for a few more days.....
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Anyone's guess. Is it still a case of "missing paperwork"? It would be interesting to see a picture of it at its current location in order to know if anything is really being done or if it's just sitting there.