|
At first glance to this idea, it seems that given the previous ventures that have been trialled from Alderney , I believe that both Aurigny and Blue Islands have trialled non inter-island flightsand settled at operating via Jersey or Geurnsey. Didn't Blue Islands operate a full channel island schedule out of Bournemouth, one route was Alderney 4x weekly, ceased in 2009. Another was Brighton Shoreham of all places??Any Logic in that?
I heard somewhere that theres a book coming out in the summer about the history of aviation on Alderney, which apparently covers upto the current time.Any use?? ;) |
Wouldn't it be great to see Flybe operating routes out of here with franchise partner Loganairs Twin Otters. I wonder...? |
Blue Islands dropped their Bournemouth route last year, much to the disgust of the local tourism industry.
The Shoreham route was quite nice, not least of which because quite a few people come from Kent and that area; the free parking was nice too. There is always talk of extending the runway, but with a major conference centre being proposed this is more likely to happen than not. The major issue is that the airport is managed by Guernsey (with Alderney tax money) so there is a complex maze of bureaucracy to any changes. As it stands does anyone know what aircraft are capable of taking up slack from the Trislander? |
Could an a/c make Alderney to say ORK or DUB? I would think an untapped market for the summer would be GCI/ALDERNEY to ORK or DUB.
|
Book e.t.c.
Hi all, it is me who is publishing the book this August - please PM me for more info. The Dornier 228 (good but islanders would raise eyebrows as is German) and new-build Twin Otters could take over from the Trislanders with no problems, and the up-and-coming GECI Skylander would also be ideal.
|
AeroMad,
maybe this one would soften the blow for the islanders - the empire version of the 228: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited - Exports - Dornier 228 Looking forward to your book - who is the publisher? |
Tri replacement e.t.c.
VB you're right - building under license and taking every opportunity to say 228 rather than the D word would probably work :E. Book is due out very early August with Amberley Publishing (I believe they are the fastest growing history publisher in UK). It will come to around 128 pages and is well illustrated with both colour and B&W images.
It covers the entire history of aviation in Alderney and also outlines the history of aviation in Guernsey and Jersey. There is a chapter on the Nazi occupation (1940 - 1945 as it is done in a straightforward chronological fashion) and also one on the future of the airport including Trislander replacements and possible airport expansion. It is also available for pre-order on Ama:mad:on. Please would anyone tell me here if they order it as I like to keep track of demand. There should be a few reviews coming out soon in magazines such as Aeroplane Monthly and Aurigny's inflight magazine, En Voyage. |
larger aircraft
would the dash 7 be able to land there?
it landed at Bembridge isle of white and they have an 800m runway same width as ACI i believe. if not Dash 7, cant the Dash 8-100/200 make it work? They can land on grass/gravel strips in africa etc. |
Dash series
Shamrock you are right, but it has to be remembered that an island of 2400 and a smaller tourist industry than the other islands cannot economically support Dash 7s and 8s - the load factors just wouldn't work.
They struggle to fill the Trislanders at times (especially in winter) and the only time of year a Dash 8 would be nice would be at Alderney Week when the Trislanders have to do about 12 rotations a day from Southampton :). However, the Dash 8-100 would need a few 100 metres more but I'm sure you could squeeze it in in an emergency. With regards to failing mainland air links (on the part of Blue Islands), they could have done some advertising in the Brighton area - I never recall seeing any anywhere in Sussex! This would have got them many more passengers and possibly made the route sustainable. With regards to Bournemouth, I believe there was a little more to this than met the eye as they pulled the plug on Guernsey - Bournemouth as well. Shame really. |
Wideroe in Norway operate off runways of 800m as part of their regular everyday situation. The shortest runway I believe is @780m. Atr, in accordance to certain specifications, can have atr 72-500's operate within 350 nm providing theres a low temperature at at sea level:bored::bored::bored:
|
Yeah I knew that Widerøe operated off very short runways, but you have to bear in mind that they are operating many PSO flights so load factors can be lower, resulting in a lower aircraft weight leading to the possibility of more extensive STOL operations :).
|
Upgrades would be needed to fire cover and security screening at Alderney if aircraft above 20 seats were to be used. This would require very significant investment which is unlikely to be forthcoming when the airport is already suffering from such a large deficit in its finances. I don't think any operations with Dash 8-100s, 328s or anything like it is in prospect any time soon!
|
That's what I was trying to say - with a short runway, little demand and higher CAT fire cover needed, what's the point? :\
|
Wasn't blue islands attemptin to gain licensing to operate to Bristol?? I think that the routes in question did include Alderney as well as Geurnsey but I think approval wasn't given
|
Bristol
Have just checked the license on States of Guernsey's website and it says that Alderney was not included.
|
Along with a few other pilots, I started my career instructing with Stratair, do they get a mention?:ok:
|
Stratair
Yes, Stratair and the Devereux House Hotel are mentioned, and I give you this section from the book about Stratair et al :ok:
But it was not just Channel Islands airlines which faced ruthless competition. In 1988, another flying club had been formed on Alderney – an alternative to the now firmly established Alderney Flying Club. Ron Wakefield, owner of the Devereux Country House Hotel in Val Fontaine had set up Stratair, and parallel company Stratair Engineering (Alderney) Ltd., as a flight training club with the advantage the pilots could have cheap accommodation. Stratair Flying School started with a Cherokee 140, Cherokee Six and a twin-engined Aztec, all built by Piper in the USA, before expanding in 1990 by adding five twin-seater Tomahawk aircraft to the fleet. According to a visitor who stayed there, “it was great fun sharing a hotel with loads of other pilots. The gesticulations of planes doing this or that after dinner or in the bar were hilarious.” He did some training at the flying school and also remembered “seeing a Stratair instructor running down the road in the headlights of the mini-bus trying to catch a rabbit with the mini-bus full of flying students looking askance at the thought they would be flying with this nutter!” The flying school had shut by the mid 1990s. March 1988 also saw a new flying training school being set up on Alderney alongside Stratair and the Alderney Flying Club. Sally Williamson, a qualified nurse, set up Alderney Flying Training with one Cessna 152. It was soon a regular feature for the Alderney Journal to show who had recently passed their Private Pilot’s Licences, however Alderney Flying Training had been discontinued by September 1990 in favour of Williamson, having gained enough hours, pursuing her career as a First Officer with Aurigny on its new Shorts 360 aircraft. |
Agree
FlyerGuy - I fully agree with you, but the concerns of islanders have to be taken into account, whether justified or not. I'm sure they'd get over it very soon. In any case, I suspect that Aurigny would probably consider the Skylander but probably would buy more Islanders if the Trislanders were to be phased out - or possibly just order more new-build Trislanders (B-N will restart the production line with only 3 orders).
Islanders do not mind the Germans in general, but the name Dornier probably rings quite a few bells in peoples' heads. In any case, the Trislander should still be able to be used, according to Aurigny, until AvGas becomes too expensive or unavailable. |
AeroMad.
Please would anyone tell me here if they order it as I like to keep track of demand. |
Thanks!
Thank you very much - it should be with you by 10th August at the latest (if all goes well :})
|
| All times are GMT. The time now is 19:06. |
Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.