Guernsey

[Jerbourg]

GCI has a new handling agent - Flight Support are setting up ops on the island & Flybe are their first customer. Flybe staff were told at a meeting last night that self handling was finishing. GCI has long needed an independant handling agent, lets hope this operation will flourish.

[G-JECL]

will we see Aurigny, Blue Islands or the summer charter flights by Lufthansa move to start being handled by Flight Support. An independent handling agent has long been needed on the island since Servisair pulled out in 2004.

Will this be advantageous for the introduction of pushback on the island? Will this make the airport a tiny bit more attractive to new airlines seeing as they would no longer need to be handled by a competitor but by and independent thrid party?

[fudpucker]

I would imagine Aurigny would keep their handling 'in house', probably the same for Blue Island. Luftie will probably go with the cheapest, but Aurigny have a good reputation as handling agents.
Don't see how an independent handling agent would facilitate pushback procedures. There's a hell of an investment needed to fund ground vehicles, probably why Flybe decided to hive off their handling to an outside agency. On the other hand, a cynic might think that they were engaged in running down their operations here (GCI).

[G-JECL]

Wouldn't be surprising if in a years time FlyBE have axed a number of routes out of the island.

[Jerbourg]

Aurigny were on the verge of signing up with Servisair GCI a few years back to save costs, so never say never.

[jerboy]

I think GR will hand their handling over to a separate agent in JER well before GCI.

JER is a smaller station, not their main hub, and has two independant handling agents already (ASCIL and Servisair). But to my knowledge they have never expressed a wish to cease self handling ops down here.

I think GCI pax will be seeing Aurigny staff for the time being!

[Jerbourg]

JERBOY -The near Servisair deal done by included JER operations as well as all cargo, in the end GR got cold feet & just signed up for UK mainland stations.

[Drink Up Thee Cider]

Not sure I understand the logic behind G-JECL's statement that he "Wouldn't be surprising if in a years time FlyBE have axed a number of routes out of the island".

I would've thought that focussing on flying the planes rather than providing the back of house would mean Flybe will be able to do precisely the opposite. Surely the real barrier to growth on Guern is exactly what rantaplan was bemoaning last month - the 1970's-style state-ownership aviation policy practised by the States of Guernsey.

[fudpucker]

Whilst hiving off ground handling to a third party can be financially attractive, it does mean that the airline 'loses control' of the ground handling. they become reliant on the third party fulfilling the contract in terms of staff numbers, standard of pax service etc. It's fine to say 'well, if they don't fulfill their part of the contract then we'll get somebody else or withhold payment', but on the day that things go wrong the airline can't do anything about it. For that reason Aurigny (and quite possibly Blue Island) will most likely keep ground handling 'in house'. Whatever some posters may think and say, both companies sell themselves to a large extent on service.
The States of Guernsey have a problem with aviation and it all comes down to 'bums on seats'. They require year-round services to help the economy of the Island, they also need to make sure the 'life-line' routes keep running. That's why they took a financial interest in Aurigny in the first place. However, they can't simply award Aurigny routes and block other airlines from flying on them in order to protect both Aurigny and the life-line routes. A good example was ACI - Jer. Hart told the States(GCI & JER) that there was not enough traffic on the route for one operator, let alone two, and if they allowed Blue Island to operate on it then Aurigny would pull off.... and that's exactly what happened. When Flybe started operating a Manchester-GCI route, it hurt Aurigny quite badly, but again the States is not able to protect them.
There are a number of airlines that operate summer charters to the Islands, because they can make a quick profit at it. There aren't many that would maintain a year-round service. Despite what many post on this forum about wanting/needing new routes to the Island(s), both Islands are actually quite well served in terms of destinations/frequency of service.

[Jerbourg]

I seem to recall BA operating twice daily GCI-MAN & the greedy Malcolm Hart came along & also got a licence for the route with the result that BA pulled off. Flybe getting licenced alongside Aurigny is just what he did to BA. I think Mr H bleats on about one thing while actually doing another.

[Yak97]

Gci-man

Didn't BA want to pull off the GCI-MAN because they were getting rid of the ATP's and AUR filled the requirement?

[Jerbourg]

As I heard it, Aurigny were the then handling agent for BA & saw how good the figs were on the GCI-MAN route & fancied a slice of the cake.

BA announced their withdrawal from the route AFTER Aurigny started ops.

[G-JECL]

Any news yet on the summer schedules for the Lufthansa and VLM charter flights?

[fudpucker]

I was with a BA subsidiary when all this was going on ( a very minor management position). It was well known that BA was going to make changes in regional flights, most of us didn't foresee that the changes would be as drastic as they turned out to be. We naively assumed BA wanted a profitably regional division.
Whilst not a fully paid-up member of the 'Hart appreciation society' give the man credit for realizing that the route was going to be 'rationalised' in the near future. It would not surprise me if he wasn't given an 'unofficial' heads up by BA. I regularly used to console Fleet managers who found the ground had been cut from under their feet by 'rationalisations'.

[kuningan]

Originally Posted by G-JECL

Wouldn't be surprising if in a years time FlyBE have axed a number of routes out of the island.

Ah, but when is a flybe route not a route? When its 'seasonal' - like its Manchester run, dropped pdq with no warning. I'll be sticking with Aurigny - at least you know they are going to operate.........

[kuningan]

Flybe calls for an end to state ownership and control of aviation

Flybe Press release:

http://www.flybe.com/news/0803/03b.htm

Aurigny rather childishly replying that "its rival had timed its statement to spoil the States-owned airline’s birthday celebrations."

Not exactly a robust response to questions of control and state ownership of airlines.....

http://www.thisisguernsey.com/2008/0...-more-cheaply/

On the one hand 'open skies' have generally driven up consumer choice and down prices....on the other look what happened to FLYBE's Manchester service - dropped like a hot potato due to 'seasonal demand'. I guess we can't have it all. I'd rather pay a bit more for year-round reliable service, not cheaper service in peak season, then none at all in off-peak, which would appear in practice to be our options. And another thing.....when I check flight prices....why do FLYBE's almost always work out more expensive than Aurigny's (even without check-in)?

[kuningan]

Originally Posted by Drink Up Thee Cider

Not sure I understand the logic behind G-JECL's statement that he "Wouldn't be surprising if in a years time FlyBE have axed a number of routes out of the island".

Surely the logic is that outsourcing ops gives Flybe more flexibility - so they can ramp up and down services with seasonal demand - and not have a fixed cost base to worry about? Great if you want lots of cheaper flights in summer - not so great if you want year-round services.

[Jerbourg]

Flybe have today announced 3 new routes out of JER. It appears GCI is becoming more of a backwater than ever despite the airport saying it is trying to encourage new operators/routes to the island, there is no evidence of anything happening at all. Sad times indeed.

[quazz]

Guernsey just does not have the population or the tourism appeal to support a great many destinations. If I think back to all the destinations and operators that have been and gone over the last 30 years. The people demand more and more airlinks and then don't use them

[baskerville]

There we are!

Flybe launch new Guernsey to Dublin route
20 March 2008
Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline, has today announced the addition of a brand new, three times a week non-stop route to Dublin for Guernsey passengers effective 7th June.

The year round route will hugely benefit both business and leisure travellers who can now book the non-stop service to the Irish capital. Guernsey – Dublin
Flights operate Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays.
Fares from £29.99 one way including taxes and charges
Mike Rutter, Chief Commercial Officer, Flybe comments: “This new route reflects our continued commitment to the Island and to promoting the growth of regional air travel. Flybe is grateful for the support given by the States of Guernsey in relation to this new route - an indication of the strategic importance of this link for the Island.
This latest announcement will provide Islanders with even more choice for reliable, low-cost services from their doorstep and people are advised to book now to obtain the best possible affordable fares”.