Excuse my ignorance, but if the airport fire service are not doing any over time, how can guernsey airport still be open to transfer passengers from Jersey?:confused:

I dont think they are obliged to stay but have probably been told that the entire island thinks they are a bunch of @rses and they should stay on as a sign of goodwill before the travelling public chases them up a tree and sets fire to it!

RFFS Cover
 

Wakeup

In reply to your fire cover

The fire service in Guernsey last week dropped from Cat 6 to Cat 5 which stopped Dash 8 400 aircraft operating as it is Cat 6 fire cover aircraft.
Yesterday lunch time the fire cover catergory dropped to a Cat 4 which stopped the likes of the ATR 72 operating.
Guernsey are Cat 4 until lunch time today all being well when they will be back to normal operations providing all fireman for the afternoon turn up.
At least Aurigny had the option off Trislanders taking passengers to Jersey to pick up the ATR flight to Gatwick.
In doing this the Aurigny interisland operation was flying very late, keeping Jersey and Guernsey extended till 2300ish

The Aurigny Bristol flight is being operated by two Trislanders today.

I find it quite astounding that it has ever been allowed to get to the stage where this level of disruption is being experienced.

The whole situation is quite incredible!

Living on a rock
 

There will be some good stories for the Local press tomorrow?

States Airport Firemen work to rule over staffing levels and screw up the States owned airline Aurigny as well ar Flybe.

This even had an effect on the paper plane this morning, Guernsey refused to accept the aircraft and had to return to Bournemouth although it is a Cat 4 fire cover aircraft so will they bill the States for the extra flying.

So no papers to start the morning in Guernsey as well.
What a mess when you live on a rock and only have the odd banana boat to get off when things go wrong at the airport.

In the old days they would have had horses or Donkeys to pull the Fire truck out - that would have save at least 4 men???? Seems like the old fashioned management trick of Carrot and stick approach has gone wrong?????

I noticed on Teletext's GCI arrivals this lunchtime a KLM flight from AMS.
Is this a one off flight or a series of summer charters?

KLM Flight
 

The KLM Fokker 50 is just a one off charter so far, there could be more we hope.
Due to parking problems generated by the locals the airport can not accommadate to many night stoppers so unless you are an Aurigny aircraft or Flybe the extra night stoppers get sent over to jersey for the night,
This is not the first time this has happened, not so long ago a Swiss BAE146 was on a night stopper charter but said aircraft doing it went over to Jersey for parking what does that say for the Island???

GBALU53

It gives the impression that Guernsey Airport is a "Mickey Mouse" operation.

Half the problem is the airport management, they have little or no interest in the aviation industry.

So, just for the odd charter every now and again you think we should have push backs? Get real. The equipment required will cost money which will be passed onto the passenger - great when you consider the already high costs of taxes and charges. Also, when it is windy they won't necessarily be able to park nose-in, so it will all go for a ball of chalk then anyway! Leave it as it is.

tin canary:

Correct, the money for the pushback tug will indeed be passed to the pax. But so, at present, would be the cost of ferrying the a/c over to JER, parking in JER, being pushed back in JER, and ferrying back to GCI in the morning. I would think that the cost of a single small tug for GCI isn't beyond the realms of the government coffers, and would perhaps make GCI look a more attractive destination for night stopping.

Changing parking positions due to the wind is quite an unusual occurrence. Ask the boys over in JER - happens on maybe 4 or 5 days a year?

I operate into and out of Guernsey daily and the parking set up is totally illogical! There is so much apron space wasted and for visiting crews the parking areas can be a nightmare to navigate. Nose in would make a lot of sense, and a secondhand pushback vehicle is not going to cost the earth. It just goes to prove how backward the thinking is within the airport management team.

One thing that seems to be forgotten is that the new terminal was designed for nose in parking.

It's really about time airport management stood up to the airlines rather than being bullied by them.

Wake up and Get up
 

skiptoit
You are correct what a mess the apron parking is.
Only four medium aircraft can park outside the building, two Dash 8s Flybe and 2 ATR72 of Aurigny, a number of times during the day they have to ask Jersey for certain aircraft to request start ups before coming from Jersey.
Last week Guernsey had a KLM Fokker 50 nightstop charter and due very limited parking the aircraft had to go to Jersey what sort of advert is that????. Guernsey get your act together or else you will not have an airport. Nose in parking and pusk backs have been required since the new building opened, due to a number of reasons did not happen, are you still in the dark ages??? the Guernsey States need to waken up from there slumber and get there act together before they are well and truely out of the game.

Me thinks that you would need more than 1 tug, what with 4 a/c out between 7.00 and 7.10

Jerboy, i don't think you will find that parking into wind is only confined to 4 or 5 days a year. It could be that the a/c have more shelter with the pier, or because the jets aren't affected as much, but if you flew in and out of GCI you would know.

Yes, the airport was built for nose in parking, but not at the request of any of the airlines. And why should the costs be incurred for the odd Fokker 50 once in a blue moon?!:ugh:

Fire cover is going to be reduced from Cat 6 to Cat 5 twice next week I hear, what's the betting the Bank Holiday will be one of the days.

Surprised it hasn't happened sooner to be honest!

The States really need to get this sorted with the Fireman it just makes us look daft! Busy trying to promote it as a tourist destinaion because of crap Euro rate but then people can't be sure they will get to travel.

Usual States of Guernsey SNAFU when it comes to organising anything! :ugh:

When will they learn!

With family in Guernsey I have been a frequent visitor to the island since the 1960's, by air and sea, with numerous airlines and shipping companies.

I love the place, but every now and again it has got its knickers in a twist over its travel links with the mainland. In the 70's the harbour workers, crane drivers and dockers, got stroppy over "pay and working conditions", messing about with the public in attempts to get what they wanted. Well, they got what they deserved, and eventually the "roll on/roll off" facility put a much-needed stop to that nonsense.

The current ill-tempered situation over fire cover has echoes of that type of dispute; according to the "Press" the union man says "this is not about pay" - yeah, right! We can all put our own spin on what it is about.

Must be something more important. Maybe they don't like the colour of their fire engines :E