Talks have been held between Guernsey’s government and Loganair which could lead to the airline operating long term on the inter-island route.
A meeting between Loganair CEO Luke Farajallah and Guernsey’s Economic Development President, Deputy Sasha Kazantseva-Miller, yesterday has been described as “constructive”, “promising”, and “useful”.
Mr Farajallah said his airline is committed to, and well positioned to, continue providing a service to the Channel Islands.
“We had very constructive and positive meetings in Guernsey yesterday but at this stage it would be inappropriate to discuss the details,” he said.
“We remain fully committed to finding a sustainable way forward to ensure a resilient flying program. With our 63-year heritage of serving the UK regions and providing lifeline services to island communities, Loganair is well-positioned to provide the support needed to the people of Jersey and Guernsey.”
The ED President was equally positive in her appraisal of the meeting.
“I am grateful that Mr Farajallah was able to travel to Guernsey to meet with me at short notice,” said Deputy Kazantseva-Miller.
“The meeting was constructive and it was very useful to discuss the opportunities Loganair sees in the Bailiwick. It is vital that we protect, and improve, our airlinks in Guernsey, including building greater resilience, and so the Committee continues to look at every opportunity carefully.”
The Guernsey-Jersey route was treated as ‘open skies’ until the weekend, when Blue Islands ceased trading. That meant any airline which wanted to fly commercially between the islands could.
However, after Blue Islands grounded all of its flights on Friday night, Guernsey’s Committee for Economic Development decided to designate the inter-island route as a ‘life line’ link – like Guernsey to Gatwick and Southampton and Alderney to Southampton and Guernsey are. A licence, issued by the Transport Licensing Authority, is needed to operate commercial services on those routes.
For the Guernsey-Jersey route, a licence will be needed from mid-January. Until then, both Loganair and Aurigny are expected to continue offering short term services while longer term plans are confirmed.
Aurigny has said it is also looking at longer term options beyond its current inter-island ‘recovery’ schedules.
It has also placed adverts in the Jersey Evening Post telling readers that it is “proud to bring Jersey back into our network, for good”.
A letter penned by CEO Nice Bezuidenhout said: “This route isn’t new to us. It’s part of our story. Part of our duty. And part of our commitment to keep the islands linked in the moments that count.
