Paid for 100% by the Guernsey taxpayer
As far as I know the loan will be guaranteed upon States' assets but not paid for by the States - Aurigny will (as has been happening with the ATRs) pay back the full amount.
They could have added another horrible ATR
Not sure what makes the -500s so horrible; for me the experience on them and the Q400 seems very similar.
Also from March next year a monopoly so fares will rocket
The point of acquiring a larger aircraft is to guarantee Guernsey's link to Gatwick and to provide enough seats to satiate the demand. In light of this raising fares would be odd and I gather the States are working to ensure this won't happen.