Aurigny has taken the “difficult” decision to temporarily restructure its flying program until the airline has a fully serviceable fleet, which is expected to happen by 4th July.
Nearby regional routes will be consolidated to reduce the level of flying, with lifeline London routes facing minimal disruption. All summer European destinations remain unaffected.
New wet-lease capacity (an arrangement covering the hire of an aircraft including the provision of a flight crew) operating a SAAB 340 Turboprop will be introduced in June to ensure that the interim, limited schedule can be delivered.
By early July, the first of two new ATR72 aircraft is expected to be added to the fleet, with the other arriving in September.
Passengers booked onto affected flights will be contacted proactively via email. Any flights delayed beyond three hours, and flights that have been rebooked to a different airport, will be eligible for free changes without fare differences to an alternative and suitable date, or passengers can opt for a refund.
Aurigny CEO Nico Bezuidenhout said: “We unreservedly apologise to our customers for the disruption they have faced over the past few months and appreciate their patience while we navigate this challenging period. Our priority is to provide our customers with safe air connectivity to and from Guernsey on lifeline routes, and we assure you we are doing all we can to return to the service reliability our customers expect.
“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.
“By consolidating some of our routes, we can provide a more reliable service for passengers travelling on our busiest routes. We appreciate our customers’ patience between now and 4 July and look forward to running a fully serviceable fleet that will provide the standard of service that we strive for.”
Aircraft shortages have come about as a result of a number of unforeseen factors outside of Aurigny’s control, including wet-lease issues and global spares shortages, which has left Aurigny operating with 25% reduced airline capacity.
Multiple unexpected technical events impacted Aurigny’s aircraft fleet during the first quarter of this year, which resulted in extended unplanned periods of aircraft downtime. This included corrosion on the thrust reversers of the Embraer 195. Difficulty obtaining ATR landing gear, because of global shortages, further contributed to the unavailability of this aircraft.
Efforts were made to mitigate the impact of these unusual set of circumstances, but Aurigny’s fleet capacity was significantly reduced due to one of its UK wet-lease operators failing to deliver on contracted services. The situation was further compounded on 23 April 2024 when a further wet-leased aircraft was the subject of a runway landing incident, resulting in that aircraft being grounded.
Mr Bezuidenhout concluded: “We realise the actions being taken will impact some customers adversely, for which we apologise unreservedly. Aurigny believes the rationalisation of some services over the period through July 4 will bring stability and resilience to operations.”
