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Aurigny to lease former Blue Islands plane

News imageBBC Two Blue Islands planes on the tarmac at Guernsey Airport. To the right of the image is the nose and front section of one aircraft. It is white, with navy blue writing saying 'blue islands'. A propeller is visible on the right of the image. To the left of the image is the tail of another blue islands plane. It is navy blue, and has a logo in the shape of a 'b', which is white. In front of the plane is a piece of yellow equipment with wheels.BBC
Two ATR-72 aircraft were impounded at Guernsey Airport when Blue Islands ceased trading in November

Guernsey's airline is going through the process of leasing a new plane.

Aurigny is taking on an ATR 72-600 that was previously operated by Blue Islands, before the airline ceased trading in November.

The plane will become Aurigny's sixth ATR 72-600, and had been impounded by the States of Guernsey until earlier last week.

Nico Bezuidenhout, the airline's chief executive officer, said the addition to its fleet would build "greater resilience into our operation".

He said: "We can confirm that the aircraft G-ISLP, an ATR 72-600, is currently in our hangar and we're working through the necessary regulatory and operational approvals to get this into service.

"This step alone builds greater resilience into our operation and our capacity to respond when our communities need us most."

The plane will allow Aurigny to "grow scheduled frequencies, add flexibility into the network and reinforce the reliability of the air links that so many people rely on every day," Mr Bezuidenhout added.

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