Doubt cast over Air Alderney's imminent take-off claim

Wednesday 10 November 2021

The States of Alderney revealed that Air Alderney still has no route licences less than 48 hours after the new airline claimed to be on the verge of starting passenger services to the UK and Jersey.

On Tuesday, Express reported on an announcement by Air Alderney that it had obtained its Air Operator Certificate and would start flying "in the very near future", initially between Alderney and Shoreham in the UK and then on the Alderney-Jersey route.

An Air Alderney Islander aircraft was at Alderney Airport over the weekend and the airline invited islanders to "come say hello if you see the team around the island".

But now the Chairman of the States of Alderney's Policy and Finance Committee, Bill Abel, has said that Air Alderney does not have licences which are necessary to fly passenger services.

"Following the recent announcements by Air Alderney of its intention to introduce scheduled air services on several routes, including Alderney to Shoreham and Alderney to Jersey, I should point out that Air Alderney has no route licences and, to date, the States of Alderney have not received any applications," said Mr Abel.

“There is a clear process to apply for, and the granting of, route licences (Air Transport Licensing (Alderney) Law, 1996) and applications need to be made to the Alderney Air Transport Licensing Board, which for clarification is a separate legal entity to Alderney’s Policy & Finance Committee.”

Express invited Air Alderney to comment on Mr Abel's statement but had not received a reply by the time of writing.

READ MORE...

Air Alderney "very near" to finally taking off (9 November 2021)

Delays ground Alderney-Jersey air link (30 December 2019)

Take-off scheduled for new Alderney air links (5 December 2019)

Angry ‘taxpayers’ blast Air Alderney entrepreneur's political past (20 February 2017)

New link planned between Jersey and Alderney (7 February 2017)