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Aurigny's CEO has questioned whether there really is demand for a Guernsey/Heathrow service.
Nico Bezuidenhout pondered the issue during a recent exclusive one-on-one interview with Express.
While discussing some of the routes that Aurigny has flown this year - some successful and some not - he described how the London City service has fared.
Mr Bezuidenhout said that route has seen success - contributing to an increase in flights between the island and London.
"The reintroduction of London City has been successful," he said.
"Passenger volumes, and load factors are pretty much on par with what we see in Gatwick. So we have affected a change in the way that we look at travel between Guernsey and London."
With demand for services to and from London across both the business and leisure sectors always high, Mr Bezuidenhout is satisfied with Aurigny's London City and London Gatwick routes - and the decision to rest the Stansted route.
"Historically, when we looked at Guernsey to London, it's always been Gatwick and almost nothing else. Whereas today we've got 75% of our volumes go through Gatwick, 25% goes through London City, so that's been a great victory.
"We've increased the level of the frequency of connectivity between Guernsey and the City of London by 34% this year. We are, as a jurisdiction, one of the most well connected by frequency to the financial center that is London, and that's specifically important given the reliance on the financial services sector that we've got on this on this island."
One area where Mr Bezuidenhout was not so certain, was whether there is demand for flights to and from the UK's largest airport for anything more than infrequent long haul travel.
"Personally, I've got a demand for the Heathrow service twice a year when I go to South Africa, because the flight goes out of Heathrow, but that's only on those two days," disclosed Mr Bezuidenhout.
"For the rest of the time I don't have a need for it. So I think there are definitely some passengers who would, on occasion, have the need."
Mr Bezuidenhout knows the island has previously had flights to and from Heathrow but he said the most recent example showed it wasn't a commercial success.
"Historically, when I look at 2019 when Flybe had a twice daily service between Guernsey and Heathrow, notwithstanding a £28 per passenger subsidy, the route wasn't successful.
"Flybe exited (Heathrow) at the end of 2019 on the back of filling, on average, 64% of the seats.
"So it depends on where you want to go and when you want to go. There is definitely a legitimate ad hoc demand (for a Heathrow service), but is it sustainable? Is it justifiable and viable? That's the open debate.
"Bearing in mind that Heathrow is one of the most expensive airports in the world, you have to wonder whether or not it would be viable, and the demand really exists for it."
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