Recent history
It was revealed in July 2010 that Blue Islands was planning to buy Aurigny, and was undergoing a due diligence process with the Treasury and Resources department of the States of Guernsey. This sparked major debate throughout the islands, and a Facebook page in opposition to the proposed buy-out gained 530 members. On 14 September, Treasury and Resources announced that the sale would not go ahead.[10][11]
Blue Islands' withdrawal from Alderney on 9 May 2011 left Aurigny with a monopoly on that island for the first time in over a decade. However, it was criticised later that year for cutting the number of flights to Southampton,[12] not lowering prices[13] and reducing services to twice daily over that winter; Malcolm Hart later reaffirmed its commitment to the route and admitted that encouraging passengers to fly via Guernsey had been 'the biggest mistake in Aurigny's recent history'.[14] At the end of 2011, Aurigny rolled out the first GPS approach system in Europe (based on the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service), for use by its Trislanders at Alderney and Southampton airports, in co-operation with EUROCONTROL, allowing flights in lower visibility and in poorer weather.[15]
In October 2013, Mark Darby joined the company as CEO after six months as a non-executive director.[16] He would initiate an eight-week trial for the Dornier 228 as a replacement for the Trislander fleet, on lease from Aero VIP (Portugal), and later the purchase of four such aircraft (two older and two NG variants). Three aircraft arrived during the course of 2014 and 2015, with another due from manufacturer RUAG in 2017.[17][18]
After Flybe announced its withdrawal from the London Gatwick – Guernsey route by March 2014, Aurigny ordered an Embraer 195 to serve its Gatwick route in order to provide sufficient capacity as the sole operator. The aircraft was delivered on 24 June 2014, and a similar aircraft was wet leased from Flybe between March and June to provide capacity in the interim.[19] Given substantial government investment in fleet acquisition, and its monopoly position on the Gatwick route, an agreement between the airline and the States of Guernsey struck in April 2014 saw it commit to offer 65% of fares for £65.00 or less.[20] Additionally, in January 2014 Aurigny applied to the States of Guernsey to operate a Guernsey – London City service, with an aim of starting the route from May.[21] Due to delays in aircraft procurement, the route commenced on 8 September 2014, initially operated by VLM Airlines.[22]
After ten years of competition with Blue Islands on the Jersey – Guernsey inter-island route, in March 2014 Aurigny signed a codeshare agreement with that airline pertaining to Jersey – Guernsey inter-island services. The deal, which marked the cessation of Aurigny flights from Jersey for the first time since 1969, saw Blue Islands take over all flying on the route and Aurigny oversee ground-handling of Blue Islands flights in Guernsey. Each airline sold 50% of available seats, and the contract was initially signed for two years. In January 2016, Aurigny and Blue Islands announced the contract for the codeshare would not be renewed, after Blue Islands became a franchise partner with Flybe and restrictions on the latter's inter-island operation were lifted by the States of Guernsey the previous year.[23] In April 2015, Aurigny acquired an ATR 42-500 on dry lease from Nordic Aviation Capital for use on London City – Guernsey services, and as a back-up aircraft.[24] In December of that year, Aurigny announced a new year-round route from Guernsey to Leeds Bradford (commencing 27 May 2016), and a summer seasonal service to Norwich (commencing 14 May 2016), using its ATR 42 and ATR 72 aircraft.[25][26] In February 2016, Aurigny announced that it would operate a summer seasonal service from Guernsey to
In November 2015, the States of Guernsey agreed to recapitalise Aurigny's holding company, Cabernet Ltd, by paying off £25m of existing and expected debt.[28] The airline signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the States of Guernsey and the States of Alderney, putting in place a system of communication between the three parties as well as a basic service level agreement, in February 2016.[29]
Aurigny announced new accessibility initiatives as of October 2024, including improved aisle seats, armrests, and ramps. The updates aim to create a more accommodating travel experience for passengers of different abilities.[30]
In August 2025, a routine flight from Guernsey to Manchester gained significant attention on the flight-tracking platform Flightradar24. Operated as GR678, it became the most tracked flight on the site during that period, with over 1.3 million users monitoring it simultaneously. This surge in interest placed the flight among the most tracked flights so far on Flightradar24.[31]
