Review of Aurigny Air Services flight Guernsey → London in Economy

Aurigny ATR- THe Backbone of Guernsey Air Travel

Aurigny Air Service has been a long time operator of the ATR-42 & ATR-72 families in the United Kingdom, whilst the airline is often associated with the Britten-Norman Trilander for over 40 years connecting the Island to the South of England, the airline has used the ATR turboprops to link to further across the United Kingdom & Ireland since 2003.

The airline has used these Italian-French turboprop aircraft since July 2003 and has operated 14 aircraft, including leased aircraft. As of May 2024 the airline has three ATR 72-600 in service (though one is currently listed as Parked) with another two due to be added to replace its sole Embraer ERJ-195 (G-NSEY).

The current three in service were delivered brand new from ATR in late 2019 & early 2020, which saw the airline phase out its sole ATR 42-500 as well as a trio of older ATR 72-500 which the airline had been operating since 2009 & 2016.

The ATR fleet can be seen at various major UK Airport's, however the two main airports you can secure a flight to or from Guernsey with are London Gatwick and Southampton.

During my day trip to Guernsey, I had the pleasure of flying both the airline's vulnerable Embraer ERJ-195 as well as one of their ATR 72-600, so here's what I experienced flying the "backbone" of the Aurigny fleet!

Experincing Guernsey Airport

The entrance into Guernsey Airport is quite large and modern for a small airport, it looks quite similar to the terminal at Bournemouth Airport, just across the English Channel. A memorial to allied airmen who sacrificed their lives during WW2 over Guernsey stands, the model planes representing a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress (used mainly by the USAF) and 7x Supermarine Spitfires (used mainly by the RAF).

Aurigny Air Service is the main airline operating out of Guernsey Airport, with a small number of flights operated by rival airline Blue Island to Southampton or Jersey. This is the basis of the airline traffic here since March 2020 when Flybe ceased operations.

It was very quiet at Guernsey Airport when I arrived, so I took the time to snap some pictures of the check in area and landside area before heading through security, which took about 5 minutes or slightly less.

Airside is a small gate area with plenty of seats, a very tiny Duty Free shop selling the "usual suspects" and a small café to the end of the Airport. Only two more flights were due out that evening, one being to London Gatwick, the other to Southampton as well as a cargo mail flight. The following morning was showing up to be quite busy.

I popped into the café for a quick sandwich and coffee whilst I awaited my flight, due to the scheduling with the buses, I had to come to the Airport quite early on as the usual route into the Airport was closed off due to road works… Typical!!!

The café offered a mix of cakes, snacks, soft drinks, hot drinks and some alcoholic beverages, and a small WH Smith outlet was tucked away in the café, something that could be easily missed if you didn't go there.

The gate we would be going from was down the far end of the building (which wasn't far by any means) so I sat up there and waited to be called up for boarding the flight. Not a bad terminal building for up to 2 hours of stay, but I would get fed up if I was stuck here for 4 hours or longer on a delay or connecting flight. There are no airport lounges here at Guernsey Airport, which isn't surprising to be honest.

I noticed that the Embraer ERJ-195 from my outbound flight was parked up for the night. I believe it did one of the London Gatwick flights the following morning.

Aurigny ATR 72-600 (GCI-LGW)

Boarding commenced for our sub-1hr flight to London Gatwick, and after a brisk walk in a lovely spring evening we arrived at our ATR 72-600, with our plane for tonight being G-OGFC. This plane was delivered brand new to Aurigny on the 14th December 2019, a nice little Christmas present from ATR! The aircraft is configured with 72 seats in a Two-Two configuration.

Aurigny boards passengers on the ATR in Row batches from the front to the rear, which is a very effective boarding method for a regional airline operating the ATR. It should be noted that the forward rows are sold as standard seats and premium seats are at the back of the plane (except Row 1 which is an exit row), something worth noting for my fellow AvGeeks who might want to fly on Aurigny!

I noticed there were three cabin crew tonight, rather than two, which was likely due to one of the crew being either a trainee or being examined by a more senior cabin crew member.

I walked up the plane and took my place at Seat 4A, a lot of people who fly turboprop aircraft want to avoid sitting up front by the props due to "excessive vibrations"… I am not one of those passengers! Any chance for a view like this is a bonus in my book!

We boarded quite efficiently and the plane was all ready to go about 10 minutes early, so the crew began to get the flight underway. It was a short hop over to London Gatwick and the taxi at Guernsey would not take too long as we were the only plane due to depart and there was no arrivals due at that time either according to FR24.

After a short taxi down to Runway 27 we lined up and performed a rolling take off out of the small island. It was a beautiful scene on climb out as we rose into the evening skies seeing the Island give way to the surrounding English Channel.

Our route took us on a straight path and climb over Guernsey, once we passed over into the English Channel over the town of Torteval, we made a turn putting us North-East for the UK Mainland. We then flew effectively straight ahead towards the Isle of Wight before we'd make our turns and decent into London Gatwick.

I had another read of the inflight magazine, I really like this page where it covers the fleet of the airline as well as facts about Aurigny Air Service and showcasing its route network. Despite the heavy focus on the British Isles, the airline does offer charter and seasonal services to France and Spain in 2024. Recently the opened a seasonal route to Paris CDG from Guernsey!

The crew did the café service for the flight, so I opted to get a bag of Malteser chocolates and a can of coke for the short flight, it came to around £4.50 in a deal covering soft drinks and snack items.

Seeing the sun setting as we headed North across the Channel was an amazing sight, enhanced by the view of the propeller. Eventually we came upon the Isle of Wight and the flight crew began preparations for arrival as the plane started its descent over Hampshire.

The crew dimmed the cabin for landing during the hours of darkness, night had fallen by the time we were over the mainland of the UK, the bright blue mood lighting really made the cabin look atmospheric.

Our flight path on arrival into London Gatwick took us past Portsmouth across the South coast over Worthing and Brighton before making an "S" shaped turn over Sussex passing Burgess Hill and Horsham before lining up for final approach onto Runway 08R, the arrival meant we had to simply exit the runway and head straight towards the domestic stands at the South Terminal. We pulled up on Gate 5, a short distance from where I had boarded the Embraer E-195 only hours earlier at Gate 3.

Parking on stand, I held back to grab some cabin shots before leaving the ATR-72 so the crew could go home with a new load of passengers. Overall the seats are pretty standard for newer built ATR aircraft.

Overall it was a nice flight experience, you shouldn't expect too much from a small regional airline, especially one that is mainly providing essential airlinks for a community like Guernsey.

Not sure I would be sold on flying one of these for 2 hours down to Spain, but for the sub 1hr flight to London from Guernsey it ticked all the boxes for a flight experience. Once I left the plane, it was onward to domestic arrivals at London Gatwick, a pretty easy experience as there is no formalities, just ensure if you've checked baggage that you stop at Baggage Belt 11 before you head landside.

Bonus : Click here display hide

Meet "JOEY" the Trislander!

The Britten-Norman Trislander was a staple of the Aurigny fleet for 40 years until 2015 when the fleet was retired due to the age of the aircraft and the issues getting parts for them. The Dornier D-228 has replaced the aircraft now on the flights from Guernsey to Alderney and Alderney to Southampton.

A model of one of the Trislander planes is displayed in the Guernsey Airport terminal building, however there is a really awesome story to this little aircraft which I'll dive into.

In the 1980s the airline did a marketing program which saw one of their Trislander aircraft given the persona of JOEY. It was a hit with children and given the airlines use of the aircraft for over 4 decades, G-JOEY became a bit of a local celebrity.

When it came time for the Trislander fleet to bow out, G-JOEY had the honours of being the one to operate the last flights. The airline opted to preserve G-JOEY and two other Trislander aircraft, the other two going to Southampton's Solent Sky Museum & IWM Duxford's British Airliner Collection respectively.

After G-JOEY performed its final flights in 2015, the aircraft spent three years in storage being prepared for a new home on the Island of Guernsey. He was repainted in the original 1970s era Aurigny livery as well as keeping his "face" on the nose section and "JOEY" found a new home at the Oatland's Village play barn, where he is hoisted from the ceiling of the building.

Even though he is no longer flying, G-JOEY is still a tourist attraction in his own right with adults and children coming far and wide to see the iconic JOEY the Trislander!

It was a pleasure to go see G-JOEY when I was on the island, having seen his sibling, G-BEVT, at IWM Duxford the previous year. The Solent Sky aircraft is stored at Lee-on-Solent Airport pending work at the museum allowing space for the new Trislander.