I'm coming towards the end of work on a book on the history of Aurigny, for publication next summer, and have realised I've left something of a blind spot on Intra, which was in many ways a very comparable (if more DC-3 orientated) Jersey-based operation.
Aurigny began operation on the Jersey - Guernsey route in May 1968, and BEA relinquished it on 31 March 1969. In May 1969, British Midland applied to compete on the basis that Aurigny wouldn't provide sufficient capacity (particularly for transfer passenger with fixed onward connections) but the ATLB turned it down, saying that it had 'noted that Aurigny are prepared to operate a system of priority reservations for interline passengers on their high-frequency summer services'.
Intra was formed in early 1969 and applied (see bottom right of
this page from Flight archive) to the ATLB to fly JER-GCI with a Dak. I can't seem to find a record of the outcome of this application, but it seems it wasn't granted and Intra's first scheduled service was to Staverton in 1971.
That's most of my research on this so far. Could anyone tell me:
- What aircraft would BMA have planned to operate on JER-GCI?
- Why was Intra unsuccessful in its application and does anyone have record of this?
- When did Jersey European begin and end operations on JER-GCI? Did the ATLB become more liberal or was there another reason it was allowed to compete?
- Finally - off-topic here but worth a shot - did Jersey European ever operate Alderney - Shoreham with Twin Otters in 1985? The service was timetabled but I can find no record of it beyond this.
I appreciate this is a rather extensive and specific list of questions, but any info - or wider anecdotes (for it's them that make a book) appreciated. I know about the 1981 Jersey European Islander crash in St Andrew, covered in the book as follows (for your entertainment):
The aircraft crash-landed in St Andrew, hitting a stone wall (which broke off the left undercarriage leg), going through a five-bar gate and a hedge, crossing a road and finally stopping in the driveway of a guesthouse near the Dairy. A drinker who was staggering home, rather the worse for wear after a fine night at the Hangman’s Inn, recalled that he had ‘never sobered up so fast’ when the stricken aircraft emerged straight through the hedge in front of him. ‘I got stuck in the pub after that because the police closed the bloody road. Guess what, I got p****d again till I realised (at closing time) that I could walk through the grounds of the hospital to get home...
Thanks for any help in advance.