Air connectivity review to cost States £45,000

The review by Frontier Economics was launched earlier this year

Guernsey's States has paid £45,000 for a review of the cost, reliability and capacity of the island's air links.

The work was commissioned by the Committee for Economic Development (ED) and will be carried out by Frontier Economics.

It will investigate whether the current air transport licencing policy "meets the needs of the economy and the local community", according to ED.

It said the review "should be completed by the end of the year" and will form part of proposals for air transport licencing, which will come before the States by the end of March 2025.

In 2018, the States of Guernsey moved to a "quasi open-skies" policy, which meant airlines no longer needed an air transport licence to fly to and from the island.

ED's review - according to a spokesperson - will look at "the extent to which Guernsey’s air services meet the needs of the economy and the local community in terms of capacity, cost and reliability and how this might have altered since changes to air transport licencing policy in 2018".

Last week the States Trading Supervisory Board commissioned a review of Aurigny's fleet, following a "challenging" six months for the airline.

That piece of work will look at the airline's future reliability and resilience and how its board members managed the fleet transition.