"Stop deliberately ignoring air-links problem" - Alderney

Monday 14 October 2019

Alderney Politician James Dent has accused Guernsey of "deliberately misinterpreting" the Northern-most island's stance on air links.

Mr Dent wrote to Deputy Gavin St Pier a week ago to "draw attention to the huge number of delays, cancellations and disrupted travel arrangements" currently impacting on people in Alderney.

"Act now to resolve these failures and to provide a robust and resilient service so that Alderney is accessible, safe and economically sustainable," he said.

Deputy St Pier responded with a series of criticisms of the actions of Alderney's politicians' and did not agree with the assertion that the air service had recently deteriorated. 

Pictured: Alderney has been frustrated by the low number of Dorniers operating on the routes between the island and Guernsey, and to Southampton. 

Comments put in the public domain by Mr Dent could "hinder rather than assist" the ongoing Public Service Obligation process, he said, adding that "the constant public criticism of Aurigny by some representatives of the political body in Alderney does not help to improve matters... and erodes trust that makes a productive relationship between Alderney and Guernsey increasingly difficult to sustain."

In terms of the service being provided, Aurigny's operational performance for the first half of the year had exceeded 90%, he said, broadly in line with levels set out in the Memorandum of Understanding. It was Policy and Resources' view, he concluded, that "a robust and resilient" air service was in fact being provided to Alderney. 

At the October People's Meeting Mr Dent defended his remarks to P&R saying it was the States of Alderney's 'democratic right to challenge and protest when the States of Guernsey was "getting it wrong".

"I believe the response to my letter from Gavin St Pier tells you a lot about the way some of Guernsey’s leading politicians operate," he told attendees. "His letter seems to me, in fact, to have been no more than a series of deliberate misinterpretations. Firstly, his inference that my letter might interfere with the PSO process is nonsense.

"These issues are happening here and now, under the current Memorandum of Understanding with Aurigny. The PSO is about future provision. Our voices cannot, and should not, be stifled in the short term.  Indeed, I would have thought the President of P&R’s own comments could be the real source of damage to the PSO process. Secondly, the letter goes on to point to performance figures in the first and second quarters of 2019 – my letter was about what was happening in the third quarter of 2019. We have had significant periods when only two, and sometime only one, Dornier was operational.

Pictured: James Dent is Alderney's President of Policy & Finance Committee. 

"The President of P&R needs to be reminded of the Plan, when Aurigny converted to Dorniers, for three Dornier operations – a plan, I believe he supported.

"Thirdly, we are all admonished because we are not “presenting a constructive view” when faced with a five-day delay because there’s only one aircraft available.  One of my colleagues has suggested that he thinks that what we should really be doing is humming Monty Python’s ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ - or, maybe, writing letters of congratulation to the Policy & Resources Committee?"

Mr Dent said he welcomed the noise that people in Alderney were making over the ongoing delays and cancellations, pointing out that "if Guernsey residents and visitors were abandoned in the UK for five days there would be huge unrest."

He "made no apology", he said, for complaining on behalf of the people of Alderney about the parlous state of the air service. But he was "disappointed" – if not surprised – that the President of P&R had avoided the issues he raised.

Pictured top: James Dent over Alderney's Airport.