Guernsey's States-owned airline, Aurigny, is intending to update its flight schedule to continue inter-islands services for the rest of the winter.
It comes amid the announcement that Guernsey's government has deemed the route an 'essential' service, meaning- from mid January, any airlines wishing to operate it will have to apply for a licence through the Bailiwick's Travel Licensing Authority.
Currently, both Loganair and Aurigny are operating flights between the islands since the loss of Blue Islands on Friday.
Philip Saunders, Aurigny's Chief Commercial Officer, explains why it went ahead with the route, despite the airline scrapping inter-islands flights twice in the past decade:
"There were a number of factors that impacted that decision, but we feel that now if effectively the right moment to be flying between the two sister islands and providing the service in a reliable manner, but also I hope to stimulate more travel and more demand.
"We're looking forward to working with everybody in both Jersey and Guernsey to ensure that we are a catalyst for travel between the two islands."
He says Aurigny's intention to serve the route is unshakable.
"What we're doing at the moment is trying to help people, straight away, we've announced our schedule until the middle of December, and we're going to, in two more installments, effectively update our schedule.
"The reason we're doing that is to make sure that everything we plan is planned in a robust manner so that the service can be reliable."
The CCO says the airline desires to be part of all strategic direction for planning relating to air services to and from the Channel Islands.
"That's our mission, and we would like to work with all of the key stakeholders in Guernsey and Jersey, not only to establish similar views, but also to make sure that we're playing the maximum role for all of our communities."
Earlier, Guernsey Economic Development Committee President Deputy Sasha Kazantseva-Miller told us the designation of Jersey-Guernsey designation doesn't mean there cannot be competition on the route, but that her priority 'is what is in the best interest of our community and economy.'
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