The Government of Alderney has decided not to award Guernsey-based air taxi Waves an Air Transport Licence (ATL) to operate non-scheduled, ad-hoc air taxi services between Alderney and Guernsey and between Alderney and Jersey.

Minutes of an Alderney Policy and Finance Committee Meeting on June 12 indicate only that the "decision to refuse the Waves licence applications was noted". The reasons for the application's rejection were not revealed.

"At this time the applications have been rejected, which is not altogether surprising as Waves have been dealing with Alderney for more than a year and are aware of the political headwind in relation to the island's air links and connectivity," an airline spokeswoman told ch-aviation in an emailed statement.

"There will be an opportunity later in the year to revisit the application based on the PSO [Public Service Obligation] which the States has yet to release. Waves has not closed the door on Alderney, and appreciates the substantial local support for the service and remain committed to operating the demand led charter service to and from the island."

Earlier this year, the Guernsey Transport Licensing Authority (GTLA) awarded Waves an unrestricted Air Transport Licenses for the Guernsey to Jersey and Guernsey to Alderney routes. However, in accordance with the opinions expressed by the GTLA, it has refrained from offering per-seat sales on the Guernsey to Alderney route, only serving Alderney on a whole-aircraft charter basis. However, it does offer per-seat pricing for its Guernsey-Jersey services which operate using a Cessna (single turboprop) Grand Caravan 208B.

At present, Aurigny Air Services (GR, Guernsey) is the only carrier to offer scheduled flights out of Alderney serving Guernsey and Southampton. Other prospective start-ups eyeing the domestic Channel Isles market include Air Alderney (London Biggin Hill) and Clear Harbour Airways (Jersey).