The Royal Court in Guernsey has given local operator Waves (Guernsey) two weeks to settle GBP19,600 pounds (USD25,800) worth of income tax arrears, the Guernsey Press has reported. The start-up airline has suspended flight operations in June.

Speaking in court, Waves founder and director Nick Magliocchetti accepted the demand and said that he would have paid the arrears immediately had the airline had enough cash.

The debt relates to unpaid income taxes from the fourth quarter of 2017 and the first quarter of 2018.

The carrier faced numerous bureaucratic obstacles in launching its proposed air taxi service between the Channel Islands since its certification in 2017. Among the more recent hurdles was the grounding of its only aircraft, Cessna (single turboprop) 208EX Grand Caravan 2-CREW (msn 208B2148), owing to maintenance requirements. Another challenge was the Government of Alderney's decision not to award Waves an Air Transport Licence (ATL) to operate non-scheduled, ad-hoc air taxi services between Alderney and Guernsey and between Alderney and Jersey.

According to Magliocchetti's statement, Waves intends to restart operations in September and is currently trying to win back investor confidence in order to secure additional funding.

Magliocchetti also said that the carrier's situation would have looked much different if the States of Guernsey had adopted its controversial Open Skies policy sooner. The new policy, which secured official approval last week, removes the need for operators to hold a Guernsey air transport license for all routes except those to/from Guernsey to each of London Gatwick and Alderney which are protected until at least 2023.