Airline reduces flights amid shortage of planes

Nico Bezuidenhout, CEO of Aurigny
Image caption,

Nico Bezuidenhout said customers deserved better

  • Published

Guernsey airline Aurigny is reducing its scheduled flights amid a shortage of planes, the company's chief executive has said.

Nico Bezuidenhout said in a message to customers that from June until 4 July the firm would be "combining nearby regional routes to reduce the level of flying we do to fit our current available fleet".

"Our European summer destinations will not be impacted, and we will prioritise our essential routes to London," he said.

Mr Bezuidenhout said the airline was increasing capacity with the first of two planes arriving in July, with the other due in September.

Image caption,

The airline is increasing capacity with the first of two planes arriving in July

"I sincerely apologise to Aurigny customers and the island community for the technical challenges we have recently faced," said Mr Bezuidenhout.

"We are working to fix this."

Problems included the grounding of a plane due to corrosion, another plane awaiting landing gear parts amid a global spare parts shortage, and the "simultaneous pre-scheduled heavy maintenance" of another plane.

A "landing incident" had further reduced capacity, he said.

"The challenges we face are not due to the launch of new routes or any conflict between profitability and reliability but stem from unforeseeable events that have unexpectedly reduced our capacity," he said.

"Regardless of the source of these challenges, passengers deserve better service.

"The entire Aurigny team is taking every possible measure to remedy the situation as soon as possible," he said.

He also thanked staff for their "commitment and efforts".

He said leasing more planes and crew had been "challenging given that multiple UK and European airlines find themselves confronted with the same parts supply shortages as we do".

Any flights delayed beyond three hours would be eligible for free changes without fare differences "to a date of your convenience", he added.

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