Heathrow link re-established – via Guernsey

Heathrow link re-established – via Guernsey

According to Flybe’s website, a flight to Heathrow from Jersey via Guernsey on the first day of operation, returning the following day, would cost around £168 per person. Flights from Guernsey leave at 2.40pm and arrive at the London hub at 3.45pm.

It would provide an alternative to flying to Gatwick and taking a one-hour coach journey to Heathrow with National Express.

The airline has said that, from Monday, Islanders could book the flights through their website on a single reservation.

However, despite the launch of the new route, there is still uncertainty over the future of the operator, which is in talks about a buy-out by a consortium led by Virgin Atlantic.

It was also revealed yesterday that the new service was only made possible after Guernsey States agreed to put up a subsidy.

After initially refusing to disclose the level of the subsidy owing to ‘commercial confidentiality’, Guernsey States yesterday revealed they were paying £825,000 to secure the route for seven months.

They are also offering Flybe discounted landing fees to run the route, which begins on 31 March.

Meanwhile, Flybe have confirmed that although they had investigated the feasibility of running a similar service from Jersey, they had no plans to set up a direct link between Jersey and Heathrow.

A number of operators including the now-defunct BMI – which ran a States-subsidised operation – and British Airways have previously tried to make a Jersey-Heathrow direct link work but have not been able to make it financially viable.

Speaking last month, Alan Merry, Ports of Jersey’s acting chief executive, warned that the establishment of a direct link to Heathrow from Jersey could harm the Island’s existing connections with London’s City, Gatwick, Luton and Southend airports.

He said: ‘We need to be really careful with Heathrow. If someone was interested in doing it, we would need to make sure they were there for the long-term.

‘It has been done before and what that did was actually mess up the Gatwick connections and we do not want to disturb those. The Island would not thank anyone for that.

‘You saw the impact of the BMI connection quite a few years ago. It cost the airline quite a lot of money and it lasted no time at all.’

lShareholders are due to vote on 4 March on whether to approve a takeover of Flybe by a Virgin Atlantic-led consortium. However, if the deal is not approved, the business’ board has warned that the airline could be wound up.

An American airline, Mesa Air, run by two former Virgin Atlantic executives, also put in a last-minute bid to take over Flybe this week.

The proposed deal caused the Exeter-based airline’s share price to double but the agreement was rejected, as the company said that it would not be able to complete the transaction within a timeframe that would allow it to survive.

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