Battle resumes on inter-island flights

Monday 26 March 2018

Competition is returning to the skies over the Channel Islands, with airline Waves being allowed to sell individual seats on flights between Jersey and Guernsey once again.

Waves is now able to resume its original operations and fly without restriction, after a dispute with competitor Blue Islands grounded its on-demand service. It has now been granted the necessary route licences by Guernsey's Transport Licensing Authority.

Launched last year, Waves announced in January that it would only be able to provide full aircraft charters after it's ‘on-demand’ service with no scheduled flights  was challenged by Blue Islands who called for a judicial review of their competitor's licence.

They argued that Waves operated in a similar way to a scheduled service because it set departure and arrival airports, sold individual seats and marketed seats on flights in which no passengers were already booked. 

The Transport Licensing Authority has now granted the necessary Air Transport Licence to Waves, allowing them to return to business as usual.

Nick Magliocchetti,Waves CEO, said: “I’d firstly like to thank the TLA for this positive decision and for their efforts working tirelessly through the very thorough process, granting us the approval to fly to and from Guernsey to both Jersey and Alderney. The fact that they have granted us the licences is proof that our business is a perfect fit for the inter-island air travel market. We have always maintained that we are here to fill a gap in that market and not compete with existing carriers. We offer a niche service that is designed to attract customers who may have chosen not to fly because of inconvenient schedules or pricing structures.”

Pictured: Nick Magliocchetti, Waves CEO.

Emy De La Mare, Head of PR and Marketing, said: “We’d like to thank our customers for their support and for choosing to fly Waves because of its customer centric and convenient operating model. It’s been a difficult few months for the team but the overwhelming public support and their desire for more flexibility and options to travel on and off the islands has been a real boost and only further proved that the demand is here.”

Nick Magliocchetti added: “The team have been working especially hard under trying conditions and deserve this result. Special thanks go to Matt Bisson, our Director of Aviation and Kasey Lynch, our General Counsel, for their hard work in preparing the written case for our licences. Now that we have the local licences in place, together with the TCO approval to fly into Europe, it’s an exciting time for the business. Further announcements on the return to individual seat sales will be made in due course.”