Don't forget flying days lost to GCI runway being shut for 2 days due to ice. And the firefighters strike.

Just seen on the Aurigny booking system that summer next year they are increasing GCI-LGW frequency to 6 x daily!
Departure times are now:

07:00
08:30
10:20
14:30
16:30
18:00

this however seems to have affected the GCI/JER-STN routes, particularly the JER-STN frequency.

Along with Flybe's 6 x daily service 4 x of which will be with the E175 thats quite a hike in capacity on the LGW route by both airlines.

Some good news for Aurigny at last.

http://www.ifcfeed.com/guernsey-arti...el-market.aspx

Aurigny is experiencing problems with late and cancelled flights due to the airlines oldest ATR72 being out of service for major maintenance.

At one time an aircraft would have been chartered in to cover this, I guess with the current situation they haven't got the funds to do that anymore.

it's a shame to see their good reputation get flushed down the toilet.

This has been programmed into the december-jan schedule for months now, flights not 'cancelled/delayed' as you suggest, but there are reduced schedules to some destinations and some only operate on certain days of the week, and at different times depending on the week compared with the summer schedule as well.

Aurigny's reputation is pretty good at the moment. Streets ahead of the competition anyway.

There were delayed EMA & cancelled LGW's yesterday due to technical issues with an a/c at LGW

Given this morning's post-runway closure performance (GR running, multiple FlyMAYbe cancellations) I'm glad I booked GR for the 24th (famous last words....):hmm:

The Flybe cancellations are unsurprisingly because of the snow and many of their flights originate from the mainland.

PS Have checked the stock exchange, no listing for a company called FlyMAYbe :hmm:

And may of their cabin crew in particular are flown in and live in a hotel for a few days to cover the two Guernsey based aircraft.

Aurigny add sixth daily Gatwick Guernsey Service
 

I just noticed that Aurigny are showing a sixth daily Gatwick service from February. That's got to be good for the Guernsey business community. Might start a war with flybe though as their Jet is supposed to be arriving in Guernsey soon. Anybody know when the jet is coming?

Hi FoG, last I heard it was due in April. Question is: will a gleaming 175 win the pax over? Will be interesting to see. However, it might not be common knowledge that Flybe are making such a point of basing their first example in Guernsey (incidentally, they did announce this just as the merger was being discussed - possibly to put a spanner in the works - so might they be regretting it now)?

Whether it wins the pax over who knows, but it will be very much appreciated by those that do choose to fly with Flybe. A nicer experience for the pax inside compared with the Q400 even on a 40/50 minute flight.

if a better experience is the aim then they only have to stop all the crappy PAs trying to sell you stuff throughout the flight.

I bet most Flybe passengers don't hear the props at all because of the shrieking and hawking.

So jet or turbo-prop will make no difference.

As to winning over pax, for most people I would reckon that flight times, prices, and customer service levels are more important that flying on a jet- especially given the short duration of the sector.

For Guernsey businessmen GR's 8:30am service out and 6pm back should work well.

Incidentally, anyone know who carries more to LGW at the moment? Would guess GR have the edge slightly?

it's amazing how often simply landing at the scheduled airport will put a smile on the faces of passengers too.

With Flybe, whether the aircraft is a jet or not is way down the list of things to be done to improve the experience.

Agree with you BellyAir, Aurigny also haven't adopted the 'don't tell passengers we offloaded their bags until we've arrived at the destination' strategy (which recently was highlighted on these forums after a Q400 SOU - MAN passenger was not told until they had landed) :rolleyes:

Aero Mad
 

I do get rather Irate when I see 1 occurance keep being brought up.

When will the Fly Be experience Sou=Man be dropped OK it shouldn t have happened how ever all the Passengers were re-united with there Bags later that Day

I understand why the passengers were not told as this would have caused a Hectic situation as to why is my Bag not going I booked 4 weeks agao and it only weights 5 kilos and would have delayed the flight even further The only fair way I suppose was to off load all the Bags but then you Piss all the passengers off.

It was done for reasons to which any Airline has no control i e The weather.

So Aero Mad do Aurigny Never off load Bags ?
Do Aurigny tell the passengers ?

Aurigny are a small Airline compared to Fleet size,Routes,Sectors flown of Fly Be so as a percentage do Aurigny have the same number of Weather problems //Pax Bags off Loaded I suspect they have more as a percentage as I dont think (Although I dont know) the ATR is as good an Aircraft as the DH4.

So Can please drop the Sou-Man baggage episode everytime you want to thrown **** at FlyBe,

NB I DO NOT WORK FOR FLYBE OR AM I A SHAREHOLDER
I m just pissed off when an Airline gets a continual slagging for 1 occurance


Good Night




:cool:

Crikey!

The Q400 is a little unstable, hence the strakes and high use of auto-pilot.

The ATR, in contrast, is top fun to hand-fly although the 42 is a little heavy in the roll.

I have no idea about the Sou-Man story.

I have been at the wrong end of 2 other incidences where the pax were 'misinformed', the last one last month (GCI-SOU).

Aero Mad
 

Any comments on the last2 points in particular to Passenger Mis information ??

Sorry learjet50, whatever you may say it is completely unacceptable NOT to tell pax that their bags have been offloaded - with the bar code system names and bags are linked and so it would not have been very difficult at all to inform pax.

To add insult to injury it was up to the passengers to find out when their bags didn't come onto the reclaim at MAN. I do not wish to 'throw ****' at FlyBe; I am merely making a point about the airline's policy (if indeed it is).

Learjet50 - it is any excuse unfortunately and I for one will not tolerate it either. I often defend the airline because for their faults, I know they do an excellent job the rest of the time. It is just a shame that those who appear to have little understanding of running an airline continually batter a company which has so far proved they can be succesful because people will and do fly with them.

Aurigny is a state owned airline and therefore no matter what they do they will always be the little brother - you know the one where the sun shines out his backside no matter what. I would be interested to know if any skis or bags were ever left behind when they use to use the ATR on the GNB flights.........

Bellyair, I would argue your suggestion that they need to improve on customer service. I do agree with those that say the E175 is being brought in to entice passengers away from GR, it makes sense because that is what happened back in the good old 146 days (lovely little plane) Passengers preferred a jet service and this is mirrored on the Isle of Man who were very sad to see their only jet service go following the BA Connect acquisition. At the end of the day its competition and the best will win - be it BE or GR. Although it is worth bearing in mind that so far, both have managed to compete so maybe there is room for both???

Moving forward, as this is afterall the GR thread, can anyone confirm why GR dont expand in to the European market? I know they have tried and failed to sustain routes in the past such as Paris and Grenoble but have they ever considerd a triangle service to say AMS via JER?? I wonder if there would be sufficient demand??

I agree with learjet50... Isn't it funny how those occasional incidents out of over 2,000 flights per week that Flybe operate seem to come up again and again?

Flybe may not be everyone's cup of tea but the fact is they're a successful business that employ several thousand hard working people, who despite what some may say, try their hardest to keep passengers happy while doing their best to keep the company viable and profitable.

Yes, Flybe sometimes get it wrong and on occasion deserve criticism... but doesn't every airline get it wrong from time to time? What about the hundreds of Flybe flights carrying thousands of happy passengers every day that go without a hitch? Lets keep things in perspective.

The fact is you can never please everyone all of the time. Sometimes it's difficult to please the travelling public any of the time!

And for the record, I am a Flybe employee and shareholder and proud of it. Deliberate misinformation is not a Flybe policy and is not something I have ever witnessed.

Cloud1

Grenoble has only ever been served during the short ski season and from what I hear it has been a very popular route.

Hi Cloud, you may remember Coates declaring that Aurigny was stagnant - arguably, he was right. There was a lot of flak for GCI - AMS, which failed rather and since, one can't help but get the impression that the airline has been somewhat timid. Except for the new ATRs and the reinstatement of routes that accompanied them, the airline has changed little since 2004 (except the Shed and 340s are now gone). It may be that as a loss making carrier, the States are not willing to back further expansion or it may be that a Dinard route is all that MH wishes to have to do with Europe. However, looking at Guernsey Airlines' network in the late 1980s, you see routes spanning the CI, England, Scotland, Ireland and France. Perhaps Aurigny is missing some markets??

Granted, but since 2004 through a period of rationalisation GR now has a much stronger base upon which to expand. Management seem acutely aware that they need this expansion to return to profitability by benefiting from economies of scale etc. Seem to be looking at what additional activities they can take on, be it passenger or freight related. Unfortunately being state owned it suffers from a chronic shortage of investment-quite a hindering factor

On another note- shame to see such a reduction in STN services to facilitate the 6th LGR rotation, JER-STN numbers seemed to be doing really well.

Yes; however you illustrated your point about lack of funding when you said they are reducing STN frequencies in favour of LGW. JER - STN naturally operates in competition with FlyBe's JER - LTN, would be interesting to know which does better in terms of load factors. Maybe two more ATRs (even if they were 200s) would solve Aurigny's problems - what is the status of the Air Wales examples? I see they are owned by but have Aurigny sold them and leased them back?

WOT? Lack of funding? How about 2 spanking new ATR 72s....Doh:{

IOM Spotter

Was referring more to working capital. Also, the two new ATRs were funded by a loan taking out by GR merely being underwritten by the states.

Aero Mad

The two ex Air Wales ATR 42's were never owned by Aurigny.

G-CDFF was chartered and used by them for a while. It is now operated by First Air in Canada.

G-SSEA arrived for maintenance and was stored in Guernsey for quite some time, it was never used by Aurigny. It is now operated by Aer Arann.

Geo73, thanks for the clarification - I know that for some time they were operated on the Aurigny AOC with stickers saying 'Operated by Aurigny'.

Will be interesting to see what Aurigny does next - anyone join me in thinking that it will just keep simmering away the way it is, waiting for the economy recovery and a subsequent decrease in losses/increase in profits?

I do so hope you are right, and that the waiting is worthwhile. In my opinion there is a good customer base with a strong sense of brand loyalty, particularly on the Guernsey-Gatwick service. I have family and good friends resident in the island who always prefer to "go local" when travelling to the mainland, and I invariably choose Aurigny for my frequent trips the other way. G-COBO already feels like an old friend when returning yet again island-wards.

Now, where did I put that "I've Flown in JOEY" certificate? :8

http://system.newzapp.co.uk/EditSite...s/BeatFees.jpg .

Very good of them.

Better make my bookings for the summer straight away then!

Sloppy journalism (not that we ever see that):

Aurigny denies safety risk, but ATRs need early frame replacement News Travel This Is Guernsey

Or is there more to it?

Guessing sloppy journalism. According to the site a correction was made, to state that it was only sections 6-8inches that were replaced.

According to the Guernsey Press, both ATRs needed frame replacement work carried out. No mention of a cause common to both aircraft, although apparently G-COBO had a drill bit found under the floor left there in the manufacturing process. This had rusted (presumably this was of steel), and had caused (bimetallic?) corrosion of the frames it touched, which would otherwise have been OK.

Sounds as if the very specific "foreign object" damage on G-COBO was only local, but it would be very interesting to know what the more general problem was with the frames on both.

Can't say I noticed anything rattling under the floor on my flights in G-COBO to date!!! ;)

I heard today that Farnair are looking to to take a 50% stake in Aurigny, can anyone shed any further info on this?

I'd heard 49% of Anglo Normandie

Job losses announces
 

16 redundancies announced at Aurignys engineering division Anglo Normandy. That's quite a large percentage of the total staff I would imagine.


Job losses at Aurigny - Guernsey News from ITV Channel Television - channelonline.tv