Guernsey airline Aurigny suffered £13.5 million loss in 2021

Aurigny says it hopes to start making profits by 2023.  Credit: ITV Channel TV.

Guernsey's airline Aurigny suffered a £13.5 million loss in 2021, but that is an improvement on the previous year as losses reduced by 39%.

The announcements were made during a briefing held today (17 March) with the CEO and Chairman in attendance.

In it Nico Bezuidenhout, Aurigny's Chief Executive, said it had been a better year than expected, but they still had cuts to make.

Last year, Aurigny announced it wanted to reduce its fleet of aircrafts as part of cost-cutting plans after not making a profit for more than a decade. As a result they sold one Dornier plane and retired another. They are now looking at the future of the Embraer Jet, as removing it from their fleet would save £100,000.

March and April 2021 had been particularly tough for the airline with their lowest passenger numbers on record.

Key facts from 2021:

  • Aurigny sold 370,494 seats on 7,070 flights to 17 destinations. 

  • Employed 291 people. 

  • Expenditure was £31 million (on fuel, airport fees etc).

The airline says it plans to start making profits by 2023. Bosses of the airline also highlighted they support an extended runway in Alderney, as it would allow larger planes to land in the island.