Aurigny Air Services (GR, Guernsey) faces headwinds in securing sufficient capacity after a DHC-8-Q400 wet-leased from Luxwing (BN, Malta International) suffered a runway excursion at Guernsey airport on April 23.
As 9H-LWB (msn 4332) is grounded pending an investigation, CEO Nico Bezuidenhout told the Guernsey Press that Aurigny is has had to cancel select flights given its own fleet is currently at maximum utilisation.
"We don’t know how long that investigation is going to take and for how long the aircraft will effectively be in quarantine. In the interim, my team is looking into the market for back-up capacity should it be required," he said.
The airline wet-leased an A320-200 from Titan Airways (ZT, London Stansted) for a single Guernsey-London Gatwick rotation on April 25.
The Channel Islands-based carrier has been struggling in recent months due to a combination of maintenance delays, ACMI snafus, and fleet transition. One of its three ATR72-600s, G-ORAI (msn 1599), remains parked at Dinard/St. Malo for much-delayed maintenance and is currently scheduled to return to service by May 10. According to Bezuidenhout, once it is back, other aircraft will then be dispatched for checks.
Aurigny Air Services is also retiring its only jet, E195 G-NSEY (msn 19000671). Although the aircraft was initially scheduled for phase-out by the end of March 2024, in light of ongoing persistent capacity shortages, the airline extended its service. It remained in operation as of April 22. However, Bezuidenhout confirmed that the aircraft, the use of which is limited by the need for maintenance, will be sold by the end of April and will be replaced by two additional ATR72-600s, but these are not scheduled for delivery until late May and August.
As the carrier turned to ACMI to provide interim capacity it faced multiple hiccups, including the recent runway excursion and an earlier short-term partnership Eastern Airways (T3, Humberside), which has faced its own maintenance and supply chain issues. It currently wet-leases another DHC-8-Q400 from Avanti Air (ATV, Paderborn/Lippstadt).
