Aurigny boss apologises over plane disruption

Aurigny's boss said the airline has let down Guernsey in recent months

The chief executive of a Guernsey airline has issued an "unreserved apology" to passengers following a series of issues.

Aurigny chief executive Nico Bezuidenhout said delays and cancellations from the airline in 2024 had "let people down".

He said that the firm was looking to resolve ongoing issues ahead of summer.

This included leasing more aircraft to back up the fleet, Mr Bezuidenhout said.

The airline's boss said a lot of the reasons behind the delays and cancellations which have impacted flights were "out our control", such as the weather.

Mr Bezuidenhout said Aurigny has historically had good punctuality figures and he was sorry that these had dropped over February and March.

"It's something we value and we've let ourselves and we've the people of Guernsey down over the last two months, due to reasons outside of our control," he told BBC Radio Guernsey.

"But, nevertheless, it impacted our passengers and we fully understand that and we appreciate the support and patience that our passengers have shown us."

Extra planes leased

He said the airline is taking steps to "remedy" the recent issues.

Aurigny is planning to lease extra aircraft, including one due to join the fleet next week, to help lower cancellations, which Mr Bezuidenhout said would give the firm two extra planes throughout the summer.

The chief executive added leasing the planes would be a "costly exercise", but being able to provide a better service was more important to Aurigny.

Mr Bezuidenhout said: "In the end, service reliability is more important than the financial outcomes and consequently we've taken these steps and measures."

'Extremely expensive maintenance'

The airline announced in November it would be selling its only Embraer jet to help provide a "more streamlined and efficient service".

Mr Bezuidenhout said the aircraft will be taken out of active service at the end of April, although it would be a back-up plane if needed in May before it left Guernsey.

He said the reliability of the jet was part of the reason for the issues experienced by the airline this year due to its age and how much it had been used.

Mr Bezuidenhout said: "It is a good aircraft, but it is getting older and it is an extremely, extremely expensive aircraft to maintain.

"Some of the chickens are coming back to roost now in terms of using this aircraft on a 36-minute sector.

"Things like thrust reversers for example which in the case of the Embraer costs about $4m (£3.1m) fail when you use them on such short and high rotations and in such a corrosive environment."

He added the price for the jet will be slightly below market value because it has been used in a manner which it should not have been used.

Aurigny's only jet has not been used as it was desinged for

Looking ahead to the future, Mr Bezuidenhout said Aurigny was launching more routes and had more connections to London.

He believed it showed the airline was not in "disarray", but he "fully and wholly" admitted that reliability and punctuality had been a challenge over the last two months.

Mr Bezuidenhout said: "I give you the assurance that we've taken every possible, conceivable step to restore this reliability challenge."