Aurigny boss says disruption has been addressed

CEO Nico Bezuidenhout said his apology is sincere

The boss of airline Aurigny has said extra measures have been taken in a bid to stamp out disruption.

It comes after reports of stranded passengers, a lack of communication and rising ticket prices in recent months.

Chief executive officer of Aurigny Air Services Nico Bezuidenhout apologised for the disruption and said he hoped the worst was behind them.

"We've let islanders down, we acknowledge that," he said.

'Fallen short'

"The reasons for it were outside of our control but nevertheless we pay to deliver a service and that service has fallen short."

In March, The Guernsey Aviation Action Group (GAAG) said high flight prices and frequent disruptions were "a shambles and a disgrace to the island".

Mr Bezuidenhout said since 2019 Aurigny had increased fare levels at a rate below inflation.

He said it had suffered losses for decades but the company generated a profit in 2022 for the first time since 2007.

Embarassed

Passenger Dave Richardson said he and his mother-in-law, who uses a wheelchair, faced disruption during a flight to Bristol.

He said the flight time continually changed and passengers had little to no communication from staff.

Mr Richardson said, having arrived in Bristol, they were left on the plane for about 30-minutes as no arrangements had been made for a ramp.

He said: "Every time a different person walked past they would say 'come on love could you not just do a few steps'".

He said his mother-in-law was made to feel embarrassed and they now have no confidence in using the airline in future.

'We will improve'

Mr Bezuidenhout apologised for the incident and said extra measures had now been taken for passengers who require assistance.

He said: "We will improve, we have taken the steps and measures.

"For the first time since 20 February we've had all three of our ATRs available for service and since then we've not had cancellations related to capacity or aircraft technical events."