Originally Posted by
rog747
Yes the new ATR42 600S may just be OK for Alderney's 880m runway as is - ATR say that economical loads of 42 pax on 200nm missions can be flown to and off 800m.
The ATR72 needs around 1100m T/O and over 900m LDG.
Cost of the extension over rebuilding estimated at only £12-15m more; even if it's £25m, the extra cost of acquiring one or two 42-600s, and having an additional type in the fleet, is likely to cancel this out. There would also be less resilience to the service if it were to depend on another type.
Originally Posted by
five zero by ortac
Would this improve Alderney's economy - No
If you're providing 20,000 extra seats, as you would with a couple of GCI returns and one SOU return per day as a minimum level of service (with extra capacity available in summer, important for Alderney's intensely seasonal market), and can do so at the same or lower CASM and fares, given the bottlenecks which the limits to the current service place on Alderney's economy, I don't think it's possible to say with any certainty that this wouldn't improve the situation.
Whether it is affordable for the Bailiwick is a more difficult question. What we do know from the last ten years is that Alderney in managed decline is - and would for a very long time be - a very expensive policy choice indeed.