Loganair has said it is “disappointed not to be able to serve the Guernsey community” after its air transport licence applications for routes to and from the island failed to secure approval from the Transport Licensing Authority.
The TLA issues air transport licences for designated essential routes to and from
Guernsey, which includes Gatwick, Alderney and Southampton – with Jersey to
become an essential route from 15 January.
The Sarnian authority confirmed last month that it had received three applications, in an update following the collapse of Blue Islands.
One of the applications was from Aurigny, to operate a scheduled passenger and cargo service between Guernsey and Jersey – which has been approved.
We are disappointed not to be able to serve the Guernsey community, with outbound and inbound flight opportunities that are complementary to our extensive network
Loganair statement
In a statement on Friday afternoon, the Scottish carrier said it had “been notified by the Guernsey Transport Licensing Authority (TLA) that it has provisionally reached a decision to deny an operating licence for Loganair to operate the Guernsey-Southampton and Guernsey-Jersey routes”.
The JEP understands that Loganair had the right to appeal before a final decision was reached by the TLA, but has withdrawn from the process.
“Loganair has taken the decision to focus on delivering an exemplary, reliable service for islanders, starting in Jersey,” the statement continued.
“We would like to thank the TLA for considering the application and express appreciation to the many individuals and businesses who contributed to the process, and who offered their support to us.
“We are not surprised at this outcome; however, we remain resolutely of the belief that Loganair should play a part in serving the Channel Islands community beyond our base in Jersey.”
The statement explained that Loganair had subsequently decided to begin cancelling and refunding passengers due to fly between the islands from 15 January.
“We are disappointed not to be able to serve the Guernsey community, with outbound and inbound flight opportunities that are complementary to our extensive network.”
Loganair chief executive Luke Farajallah added: “Our focus is simple: deliver day in, day out aviation solutions for islanders.
“We’ll show in Jersey what our customer first approach looks like – reliable schedules, clear communication, and care when plans change,” he continued.
“If we do our job well, we hope Guernsey will soon enjoy the same standard of service.
“Loganair remains ready to bring its experience, scale, resilience, vast network and codeshare relationships to support the community living in and wishing to visit the beautiful island of Guernsey, and our door remains open for dialogue with the States leadership.”
Deputy John Gollop, President of the Transport Licensing Authority, later sought to clarify how the decision had been reached.
“In reaching this decision, the Authority considered a wide array of submitted information and representations received as part of a public consultation process. This included representations from the Committee for Economic Development and the Policy & Resources Committee, both of which hold relevant policy-making mandates,” he commented.
“As required by Law, the Authority gave Loganair a period of 14 days in which to respond to its proposed decision. However, Loganair has subsequently withdrawn its applications.
“The Air Transport Licensing Law and the Air Policy Statement set out the factors to be considered by the Authority when making a decision to either grant or to reject a licence application. On this occasion, evidence suggested strong competition on these routes would likely lead to it being unviable for all operators in the longer term.”
This was of course a difficult decision, but I hope the community can be reassured it was considered carefully
Deputy Garry Collins, Vice-President of the Transport Licensing Authority
Deputy Garry Collins, Vice-President of the Transport Licensing Authority, added that the process had not been easy.
“When working toward a decision, the Authority is required to consider the best interests of users of the service and, ultimately, the best interests of the island over both the short- and long-term. This was of course a difficult decision, but I hope the community can be reassured it was considered carefully.”
He continued: “I would also personally like to thank all our officers for their outstanding hard work on these two applications. We as an Authority have had many meetings over this busy few months, hundreds of hours have gone into this process, and they should be thanked for their first-class support.”