Forward or Not??
 

Mrs Overall
Anyone would think you are a trolly dolly on Trislanders they way you seem to support Aurigny??
You must not lose sight that the Guernsey Tax Payer (are you one?) is funding a lot of Aurigny and the problems they have, being a small company when things go wrong in the big world, meaning outside the Island, you start talking big money to mopp up.
I would hope the problems they have had with the new aircraft are covered by some warranty from Aerospatial???
So Aurigny replace the ATR 72s with newer ATR72s so what do they do to replace the inter-islands work hourse newer Trislanders?? this is a good one for you to answer as you do seem to be a fan of the yellow doddle bug family??

Mrs Overall - what a load of crap and you know it.

Can I remind you of one particular airline, out of the two which you have hinted at, that subchartered an additional ATR (they already had one on wetlease) just so that their passengers could leave GCI when the firefighters decided to stop working?? It would have been a good enough excuse as far as I am concerned to say 'sorry, tough beyond our control' but they did not.

In terms of tech problems, one of the GCI airlines have enough aircraft in the fleet to position another aircraft which they regularly do in the event of a 'bad' tech issue.

Spot on those people that have said tech problems happen to all airlines. No airline is immune to tech problems, even the ones with new aircraft. In fact these can be worse as they have to discuss with the aircraft manufacturer.

The fact that they subchartered is nothing to congratulate them about, many many airlines do it!! get over it :rolleyes:

Cloud1

Flybe did subcharter an ATR 72 to cover the problems with the fire cover, good on them for that, it didn't work out in the end but there was nothing more they could have done about that.

However there are many times in the past where Flybe have cancelled flights due to technical problems and left passengers in the lurch. Sure enough sometimes they bring in a replacement aircraft but that seems to be if and when it suits them.

Aurigny are going to have problems without a back-up aircraft now that they are utilising all three ATR aircraft, however 9/10 times they will get you to your destination.

You are always going to have teething troubles when a new aircraft is introduced, this is no different from when Flybe introduced the Q400.

Before you ask, I don't have any connections with Aurigny apart from being a Guernsey tax payer who supports his local airline.

well said geo73. Like the good old Guernsey Press, the others contributors just can't help putting the boot into aurigny when something goes wrong - like the other operators are perfect!
Basically they have nothing worthwhile to say :ugh:

Geo73

Please care to re-read my post and you will see I had already acknowledged the fact that airlines that have new aircraft will often experience tech issues. I am fully aware that this happened with the Q400, as it has with the A380 recently publicised.

I do not doubt that Aurigny will get you to your destination, so will Flybe and Blue Islands. The only thing is you may be subject to a delay either because Aurigny is fixing the plane, or Flybe rebook you onto the next service due to their frequent schedule into GCI. How anyone can suggest that Flybe leave you in the lurch is far beyond my understanding as they have more flexibility in such circumstances - if for any reason the island is fogged out this is a different matter but I hardly see how they would then be different to anyone else.

Besides my post was in response to a rather ridiculous suggestion made by Mrs Overall. I am not prepared to get into an indepth, endless and pointless discussion about which are the better airlines operating into GCI. As far as I am concerned both GR and BE are the same like it or lump it.

Cloud1

Because you have more flexibility doesn't mean you are going to use it.

Flybe have a reputation for cancelling flights very early on when they have problems, they may have their reasons for this, who know's?

Aurigny are the opposite, they will always do the upmost to get you to/from your destination, only cancelling as a last resort.

It may be beyond your understanding, however it is fact.

Describing the two as the same shows your lack of local knowledge.

Yeah. I bet most people have experienced or know someone who has experienced Flybe cancelling a flight and saying book on the next available - which turns out to be 2 days later. The only good thing is for Flybe, who then run 100% load factor for the next couple of days.

I do not understand the "Flybe has more flexibility". If that is true I have never witnessed it.:hmm:

Well said Geo73. As a Guernsey taxpayer I am proud of our local airline and I would like to think that all Guernsey residents will use Aurigny whenever possible.

EMA Flights
 

Due to the very late launch of this service it is not included as one of the flight options in any of the tour operator's brochures.
Two week's ago we phoned three travel agents to get the best price for a holiday we are taking there in June, they all insisted there was not a service to Guernsey from EMA!
I would imagine this, together with very little advertising, is likely to have quite a bearing on pax numbers for this Summer season. The lack of awareness of the new route by travel agents certainly does not reflect well on the airport's marketing department...!

EMA is doing well so far & I hear forward bookings are excellent too.

If the travel agents don't know then thats not good, but I think Mrs O is right in that it was reported in the local press as being off to a good start with bookings ahead of budget figures which is encouraging.
I think it will be a welcome alternative to BHX with flybe (via JER sometimes) - but people book in advance these days if they can and i know people who had already booked with flybe to get a decent price so they are already committed. I guess this will filter out of the equation over time.

Well, I hope you have considered changing your travel agents as any agent with access to Sabre, Galileo or Amadeus would have seen with 1 simple entry that Aurigy operates on that route. And I just did a quick lookup on ebookers www.ebookers.co.uk) and the connex brings back Aurigny flights .... :ok:

My niece came over on the second flight, said it was virtually full. Unfortunatly all her other flights for the summer (and mine) have been booked in advance from BHX, which is unfortunate - wish we had known about the service starting a bit earlier!

Gatwick problem
 

Anyone know what happened to a GR ATR-72 at Gatwick this morning? Heard a vehicle was in collision. Disrupted schedules big time, for sure.

tug got towbar stuck on the nose gear doors

Hapzim

is it free yet?!!!!

The aircraft positioned back to Guernsey that same morning for repairs and was back in service late yesterday afternoon.
The aircraft was Delta Bravo and not one of the new ones

Word on the street is the MD has resigned?
Any truth in this I wonder?

There was a big meeting in Guernsey on Wednesday.
What the meeting was about could well be in conection with the possibilty of said person asking to take a little walk.
I understand he was kept on a few years ago to sort out the mess he has put the company in to.
So could be some big changes not only in the company but operations with in the Islands.
Never nice to hear of these sort of problems so close to Xmas.:(

Accordin to local media today Aurigny repoted a £1.2m loss for the year up to September. Aurigny's MD is quoted as saying that the airline will be back in profit inside 2 years. Will Aurigny I wonder even exist as such by then?


In yesterdays GEP Blue Islands said that they were not taking over Aurigny as written on this site. However IMO let's just wait & see.

MH was reported as saying that Aurigny was 'running at an operating loss (this year) of £1.2m to end September. This will be considerably less than the real losses. MH's number will exclude all aircraft ownership costs- likely to be in excess of £2 Mill this year after the acquisition of 2 new ATR-72's.

According to their website, Aurigny is launching Guernsey-Grenoble (I guess with an ATR). Do you think this route can work as a daily service all the year? :hmm:

A little late hotelmodemetar.
Its a weekly service on a Saturday aimed at the ski market Xmas to end Feb. Will save the locals a UK overnight and 2 lots of Gordon's airport departure tax (Dutch have now removed this having seen how damaging it was to their aviation community):ugh:

Good on Aurigny for being innovative this is the sort of competition needed in the islands offering customers different routes rather than the 3 main carriers going head to head.:ok:

Ok, I thought it was a daily service all the year :}
I know GR have always done charters to Grenoble over the winter. It's a good point they expand their network. CDG would indeed have been a good destination as well for Paris city, disneyland, and the big skyteam AF-KLM hub (good alternative to bloody gatwick/manchester with awful security checks :ouch:). But Flybe seems to have understood this quicker, that's a shame.

Shame Aurigny had to leave every single piece of baggage in Grenoble last Saturday due to aircraft weight/runway conditions. A week later & the luggage still hasn't arrived back in Guernsey. One has to ask if the ATR is indeed an ideal a/c for a route such as this where pax will have heavier/bulkier baggage than some other flights they operate?

Bearing in mind the awful conditions that w/e its lucky it went at all... 1200m in snow at Grenoble when it left and all close by alternates shut, necessitating extra fuel etc. Apparently some charter flights that arrived that day had been waiting a day or two from LGW to get there.
Of course it shouldn't take so long to get the bags back in an ideal world, but with a weekly flight they had to 'rush' them back via LGW and of course a lot of the flights that leave GNB at that time of year are pretty well up to the limit.

As far as i am aware, this is the first time this has happened and this is the third year of charters. The first was to Lyon St Exupery and last year and this year to GNB. I think you could say it was an unusual set of circumstances.

How is the GCI-EMA route holding up? still good load factors, dont want them dropping it again like they did a few years back.

I'd imagine that the GCI-EMA route is doing OK as GR are operating it as a year round route albiet on a reduced frequency during the winter. During the winter months I'd guess that it is alot of Specsavers staff using this route as they have their head office in Guernsey and now have their UK call centre based in Nottingham.

Hope they can see where there going.
Jubilee:sad:

fare increase
 

Adverts everywhere saying "beat the fare increase" "book before the 1st March". Anyone know how much the fares are going up ?

According to BBC Guernsey news Blue Islands have put in a bid to buy Aurigny. Does anyone know more?

Don't know, don't want to know, am writing to Treasury and Resources.

From channelonline.tv this evening...

Aurigny sale to Blue Islands agreed in principle

The Guernsey-owned airline Aurigny is set to be sold to its rival Blue Islands.

The States have agreed in principle with Blue Islands to sell Aurigny and Anglo-Normandy Engineering.

Guernsey orginally bought the airline in order to protect landing slots at Gatwick Airport.

When the States agreed to buy Aurigny in 2003, they made the purchase to protect slots at Gatwick seen as essential to business which can only be owned by an airline. Ever since Aurigny was taken over there's been opposition, mainly from rival airlines. A year ago, Blue Islands' Chief Executive Derek Coates suggested they might merge with Aurigny.

'It dosen't make sense that ultimately we have an airline such as Aurigny costing our taxpayers. It's got to become privatised one day, and I believe that the way that could happen is that we could come together and share our overheads and ensure we have the secure airlinks and we don't beat each other up too much'.

The idea was rubbished at the time by Aurigny's managing director Malcolm Hart: 'The most difficult issue, and probably why it will never happen, is control of the slots at Gatwick. Because you can't have a majority private ownership and still guarantee the island will still have control over those slots. It's something that's hugely difficult to reconcile and it's the least of my worries at the moment frankly'.

The States and Blue Islands will now negotiate terms for two months before a final decision on the sale.

New slogan
 

Am I alone in thinking that Aurigny's new slogan, 'Run away to Guernsey', encourages tax evasion? We shan't have to worry after Blue Islands buys it out - the airline will be down the drain within the hour... :(

Merger Makes Sense
 

Can't help but disagree with AERO MAD's view, the consolidation of two fine airlines makes sense, as does the return to private ownership from public for Aurigny. Hopefully what will eventually emerge will be a strong airline to serve some important regional markets.

I agree with VOM1T!

Don't worry about Aero Mad/ Ed (apollodorus) Pinnegar's opinion. He is barely out of nappies.

Smacks of a behind the scenes stich up to me. And it looks like Flybe think the same, judging from this, on their website:

Flybe statement on proposed Aurigny sale


Following the news that Aurigny is being sold to Blue Islands without an open bidding process, Flybe has called for a full and independent Inquiry to be urgently convened to examine the matter in detail.

Flybe has the longest unbroken record of service of any airline to Guernsey, has provided lifeline routes to and from the island in good economic times and bad, without recourse to a single penny of public subsidy, and is very disappointed that it has not been invited to make an offer for Aurigny.

Flybe would like to place on the record that it has, since 2003, tabled a number of bids - the last of which was just 18 months ago – to acquire Aurigny. All of these bids have contained an offer of legally binding guarantees to protect the slots at London Gatwick for Guernsey services. To our disappointment, Flybe has been rebuffed by the States on every occasion, the most recent of which was Feb 2010.

Flybe is extremely concerned that the proposed deal between Blue Island and Aurigny will result in yet more taxpayers money being wasted on clearing debts and writing off loans. Flybe confirms that it would be prepared to enter into an open and transparent bidding process that it believes will present a better outcome than the smoke-filled-room solution being promised by Blue Islands.

Of course Flybe are going to whinge - sounds pretty 'Branson-esque' to me (VS and BA/AA spring to mind); just throwing their toys out the pram.

If they got Aurigny, they would more or less have the monopoly to the UK. You'd see fares sky rocket the day after the deal was completed.

Sadly, Aurigny was never going to be around as it is for much longer; its stuck in its ways, running old aircraft and has been absolutely hammered by Blue Islands. If slightly more progressive management had been at the helm, things might have turned out slightly differently. However, being owned by the States, they could never take too many risks.

flybe
 

Dear Flybe

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah yawn - ah shut up!

Flybe aquiring Aurigny would not have caused a monopoly??????