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Aurigny has confirmed that two additional ATR aircraft will be added to the fleet by the autumn, as part of efforts to streamline the fleet and add capacity with an expansion of destinations imminent.
Sudeep Ghai, Aurigny Chief Commercial Officer, said the leased turboprops would be delivered by quarter two and three respectively, increasing the ATR fleet from three to five.
The States approved Aurigny’s plan to simplify its fleet and reduce costs by selling its sole Embraer jet at the end of last year, with its departure expected at some point this year.
It comes after the public airline experienced sustained cancellations and delays due to a series of factors over the past weeks, with it warning of a “fragile” month ahead.
The two aircraft undergoing planned maintenance – an ATR and a Dornier – are expected to return to service by early April and mid-March.
But Mr Ghai said the community shouldn’t be concerned about route resilience going forward, even with several new destinations soon to be added to the roster.
“We've taken this into consideration with the future flying program. So, if I look at the short-term outlook, we have a planned schedule that is currently resourced by our own aircraft, which in this case is going to be the two ATRs and I shouldn't forget the Embraer that is also providing supply,” he said.
While the jet will depart, the new aircraft will help the airline deliver new routes, such as Paris and its seasonal European destinations. Aurigny will continue with six daily flights into Gatwick, with three flights into Stansted and 13 into London City Airport each week too.
Pictured: London City Airport will become a regular destination from the end of March.
Mr Ghai added that additional supply has already been contracted while they await the return of aircraft undergoing maintenance and will look to source additional supply over the coming weeks when required.
He said the airline has “worked through most of the issues that arose over the last couple of days”, with two aircraft that went tech back in service by Sunday last week.
“Unfortunately, we encountered, I guess in our industry, what we would call a black swan event where we had a coincidence of three separate factors, weather conditions with low visibility here in Guernsey, unexpected aircraft incidents that took two aircraft out of service and challenges with contracted supply where because of staff shortages, they were unable to fulfill their part of the expected flying program.
“We are working on addressing all of those issues.
“I wanted to offer on behalf of everybody an unconditional and unreserved apology on our part for anyway that people have been impacted over the last week or so.
“We understand how difficult a disruptive situation is for our passengers and how that messes with people's lives at a both personal and professional level.
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