Bid for extra money for Alderney's air routes fails

Friday, 6 November 2026 at 10:25

Deputies rejected a budget amendment for an extra £360,000 to bolster the Public Service Obligation contract.

For most of 2026 the Alderny lifeline routes run by Aurigny and its partner Skybus have been criticised by passengers for being, at times, unreliable.

This was put into sharp focus at the beginning of the budget debate when Alderney rep Alex Snowdon was unable to get to the Tuesday morning opening session because there were no flights.

Skybus has faced the challenge of having adequate pilots to fly the routes and tech issues have also contributed to cancellations or delays.

Introducing his amendment Mr Snowdon spoke of the effect on the economy and Alderney's community of problems with lifeline links.

But deputies voted down the bid for extra money for the Public Service Obligation (PSO) contract, which governs the budget and service levels on the routes.

Deputy Mark Helyar, who heads up the States Trading Supervisory Board which oversees Aurigny, was one of 23 deputies who voted against the amendment.

He hinted that he wants his committee to have more say in the way the Public Service Obligation contract is run:

"To some extent the governance in respect of this I think it slightly shot.

"It needs to be reconsidered and STSB would like to be more involved with management of the services provided under the PSO currently it’s almost exclusively managed through procurement and officers at Policy and Resources."

Substantial bids for extra funding running into the millions from Home Affairs and Health were also voted down.

The 2027 budget, as amended, will be voted on today (6 November).

It does contain measures to tackle the cost of living including a freeze on fuel duty for cars and marine diesel and a two year cap on alcohol duty.