Aurigny jet to be removed from service

While the plane from Avanti Air is in operation, the Embraer jet will operate a reduced schedule

Aurigny's Embraer jet will be removed from service at the end of April, according to a letter from the airline's boss.

It comes after the airline announced it would be simplifying its fleet to use primarily ATR 72-600 aircraft.

In a letter seen by the BBC, chief executive Nico Bezuidenhout said "costly maintenance work" meant "the exit of the Embraer jet is time sensitive".

He said extra aircraft would be leased.

An extra aircraft would be leased, the boss of Aurigny confirmed

In a letter to all deputies, Mr Bezuidenhout confirmed the company was in the process of leasing extra ATR 72-600 and Q400s to cover.

It said Aurigny was working with German airline Avanti Air until 30 April to provide a 78-seat Q400 aircraft alongside its two operational ATRs.

While the plane from Avanti Air is in operation, the Embraer jet will operate a reduced schedule.

Mr Bezuidenhout said: "Aurigny's third owned ATR aircraft is scheduled to return to service by mid-April 2024, subject to the availability of parts and components".

He also said his company was looking to lease another ATR to cover if the ATR owned by Aurigny was out of action for longer than expected.

"The first of Aurigny's two leased ATR aircraft, which will replace the Embraer capacity, is scheduled to enter service at the end of May 2024, and the second aircraft is scheduled to enter service during August 2024 after being scheduled for December 2024."

'Wholly regrettable'

In the letter to deputies Mr Bezuidenhout stated "the service disruptions experienced in quarter one of 2024 did not relate to new routes being launched, nor has it been a consequent to Aurigny's fleet transition".

"Whilst the recent service reliability challenges on its UK network have been wholly regrettable, Aurigny did increase the number of flights delivered, and the number of passengers carried, relative to the record volumes achieved over the comparative period last year," he wrote.

Some of the issues which Aurigny saw were blamed by Mr Bezuidenhout on corrosion being found in the thrust-reversers - which provide deceleration - of Aurigny's Embraer 195 aircraft, which the CEO said "resulted in the aircraft's immediate grounding".

The company worked with Eastern Airways after these issues were identified to provide "standby capacity".

Mr Bezuidenhout said: "Eastern Airways failed to deliver the services as contracted, which severely compromised Aurigny's ability to respond to the unforeseen weather and technical challenges during February and March 2024.

"The contract with Eastern Airways has been terminated."

Eastern Airways has been contacted for comment.

'Falling short'

Alan Sillett, the president of Guernsey Hospitality Association, said from his point of view it was "about reliability, resilience, cost and competition" and said Aurigny appeared "to be falling short on all counts".

"The GHA wants and needs Aurigny to succeed, which is why we are calling on its chief executive Nico Bezuidenhout to assure his passengers now that they will be free of major disruption for the rest of the year," he said.

"If he can't or won't do that, then we can all draw our own conclusions about the quality of service he's providing."

Aurigny said it would not comment on Mr Sillet's views.