Aurigny boss says Alderney runway plans make sense

Opinion of the plans for Alderney Airport has been split among politicians from the island and Guernsey

An airline boss has said extending Alderney's runway makes "financial sense".

Aurigny chief executive Nico Bezuidenhout said he supported plans for the island's airport.

However, Mr Bezuidenhout said he was becoming frustrated at how long the plans were taking to sort out and the impact this was having on the cost.

In 2022, the States of Guernsey backed a plan to extend the runway to at least 1,050m (3,444ft) to allow bigger planes to land there.

In November last year, a planning application for the runway and a new terminal and fire station was published.

Mr Bezuidenhout said the proposals should help business for the airline and benefit the island.

"It is frustrating that the process is taking that long and as time elapses, financials will change," he said.

"In the end, I support the runway extension on the simple premise that it makes financial sense.

"Now if these costings end up coming in and it is much greater than expected, then the financials won't make any sense anymore."

Plans split opinion

Since the idea was first discussed, opinion has been split within the States of Guernsey, with some deputies calling for the work to be halted.

Politicians in Alderney expressed fears around the future of the plans following the election of Lyndon Trott, a long-term critic of the proposals, as Policy and Resources Committee President.

Meanwhile extending Guernsey's runway continues to be a topic for some - the States published a report in 2020 looking at the options.