The way Guernsey issues Air Transport Licences could change following the recent experience of deciding which airline could fly between Guernsey and Jersey, with just a few weeks’ notice.
Aurigny won the licence to offer passengers and freight services between the two largest Channel Islands, after Guernsey’s Committee for Economic Development made the route an essential one after Blue Islands went bust in November.
That meant any airline wanting to offer scheduled commercial flights from 15 January would need a licence to fly between the islands, as they already do on the Guernsey to Alderney, Southampton, and Gatwick routes which are all deemed ‘life line links’. All other routes offer an ‘open skies policy’ meaning no licences are required.
Deputy John Gollop, who is President of the Transport Licensing Authority, lifted the curtain on the decision making process that led to Aurigny being awarded the inter-island licence this week.
The TLA President said the decision to give Aurigny a monopoly on the route has been challenged by his political colleagues and members of the public, but he suggested that the evidence the Authority had considered in deciding who to give a licence to confirmed that competition is not sustainable on the inter-island route.
In response to a question from Deputy Andy Sloan, the TLA President also revealed how much paperwork they had to wade through to make their decision within the time frame set by Economic Development.
“I do think we’re still in the analogue age, with the fact that we’re still using three or four sided paper applications that has certainly come to the fore in recent months,” Deputy Gollop explained.
“I personally think that a flaw in the process we followed, which we did diligently according to advice and procedure, was that we did not take as much economic analysis from independent participants as might be advisable, had we been able to put back some of the decisions and not been hastened by a decision by Economic Development to have a cut off of 15 January.
“If we had gone for a public review the process might have been different, but I think we did everything we could within the rules, and I think we have to take the matters that we have in hand and that we consider viable, which include, for example, the long term stability of airlines, their track record in serving the islands, sustainability of competition, and the advice we got from the principal committees and from other significant stakeholders was that competition for the foreseeable future was not going to be sustainable or viable for anybody.”
Deputy Gollop said the way future air transport licence applications are considered could now change as a result of the lessons learnt over the festive period when the TLA had to quickly arrange multiple meetings to make decisions ahead of that mid-January deadline.
“I can reassure members that the best interests of the island over both the short and the long term was a key consideration in its decision making,” he said. “Moving on from the recent applications, the Authority has identified some areas of potential improvement in the transport licence applications process and plans to undertake a review of both this and the remit and the composition of the authority going forwards its recent experience, considering five applications put the authority in a good position to reflect upon and identify areas requiring update.”
He said one topic the TLA has already considered is the introduction of an air transport licence application fee.
“Under the current process, airlines can apply for a licence to operate an essential route for commercial purposes at no cost to their business,” he explained. “We as an authority have held 13 meetings over these busy few months, and hundreds of hours have gone into considering recent applications at taxpayers cost.
“The Authority is currently undertaking a review of unused but still extant air transport licences that are no longer required since the introduction of the quasi open skies policy. Shortly, the Authority will be commencing the formal legal process to revoke these licences.
“The strategic landscape has changed since some licences were granted for the operation of essential lifeline routes. Therefore, the authority is also to review the conditions of these licences to ensure the conditions remain relevant and fit for purpose.
“Finally, a further area of consideration is in respect to the application’s process guidance. The current timelines associated with the holding of a public hearing are somewhat convoluted and add significant time to the application consideration process. This will be considered as part of the review work to be undertaken.”