I am pleased to provide my first update statement on behalf of the Transport Licensing Authority.
Over recent years, prior Presidents of the Authority have been somewhat challenged to provide an update of activities undertaken over the prior months.
As Members will be aware, the Committee for Economic Development is the political lead for air route licensing ‘policy’. The role of the Authority is restricted to the consideration of air route licence applications and to monitor the activities of licence holders to ensure that their licence conditions are complied with.
Since the introduction of the pseudo-open skies policy in 2018, the Transport Licensing Authority’s role has diminished. In terms of new licences, its remit is restricted to the consideration of applications for air transport licences for air routes designated as ‘essential’ lifeline routes only.
Indeed, prior to November last year, the Authority had not considered any air transport licence applications since 2021.
In November, the Committee for Economic Development designated the Jersey route as ‘essential’, to take effect from the 15 January 2026. This followed the collapse of Blue Islands in November 2025.
Other routes previously designated as ‘essential’ include London Gatwick, Southampton and Alderney.
The demise of Blue Islands has generated significant activity for the Authority over recent weeks. The Authority has considered five applications for air route licences on both Southampton and Jersey routes and delivered either provisional or final decisions on all of these, at pace.
This was achieved through substantial effort, and I would like to thank Deputies Collins, Ozanne, Inder and Alderney Representative Hill as well as officers, for their significant time commitment over the Christmas and New Year period, such that decisions were made and shared with the applicants as quickly as possible. Certainty on these lifeline routes is fundamental to both the operators and to members of public, which is why the Authority gave the airlines as early a decision as possible.
The Authority made the decision to grant a licence (GTB 161) to airline, Aurigny, to operate a passenger and cargo service between Guernsey and Jersey.This complements the licence Aurigny already held for operating between Guernsey and Southampton.Members may not be aware that in granting a license the Authority is at liberty to impose certain conditions, such as the number of minimum rotations per day.In writing to set out these conditions, we have chosen to flag to license holders that we are keen to monitor consumer satisfaction with their services and have highlighted the fact that we will be paying close attention to this going forward.
In recent weeks the Authority also granted licence GTB 164 to West Atlantic UK, to operate a cargo only service between Guernsey and Jersey.
The Authority also gave notice of a provisional decision to reject two applications from airline, Loganair, to operate passenger and cargo services between Guernsey and Southampton and Guernsey and Jersey respectively. However, evidence had been submitted that these routes cannot sustain competition and that competition on the route is not deemed to be in the best interests of islanders over the long-term. Loganair subsequently chose to withdraw its applications, so final decisions were never made in respect to these two applications.
I have been approached by members of this Assembly and indeed by members of the public, either showing their support of the recent decisions of the Authority or, indeed, challenging these.
While I cannot talk about the applications in detail, I must stress that the Authority carries out semi-judicial functions, rather than purely political ones.
Where members of a political Committee may choose their approach to decision-making, by contrast the Authority must follow the dictates of the Law, which contains very clearly defined criteria to be taken into account and information to be assessed when considering whether to approve or reject an air transport licence application. The Authority must review submitted information as part of its formal consideration process and must discount anecdotal comments, media stories or unsubstantiated claims.
Ultimately, the Authority’s decision-making is driven by the requirements set out in the Air Transport Licensing (Guernsey) Law, 1995 and also the air transport Policy Statement agreed by the States in 2018.
In reaching its decisions, the Authority considered a wide array of submitted information and representations received as part of a public consultation process. This included representations from the Committee for Economic Development and the Policy & Resources Committee, both of which hold relevant policy-making mandates. Over one hundred representations were submitted to the Authority in total, and I would like to express my thanks to both Members of the Assembly and to members of the public for taking the time to share their feedback and comments, all of which the Authority reviewed and considered at length.
I can reassure Members that the best interests of the island over both the short- and the long-term was a key consideration in its decision making.
Moving on from the recent applications, the Authority has identified some areas of potential improvement in the transport licence applications process and plans to undertake a review of both this and the remit and composition of the Authority going forwards. Its recent experience considering five applications put the Authority in a good position to reflect upon, and identify areas requiring update.
One area of consideration is the introduction of an air transport licence application fee. Under the current process, airlines can apply for a licence to operate an essential route, for commercial purposes, at no cost to their business.
We, as an Authority, have held 13 meetings over these busy few months and hundreds of hours have gone into considering recent applications, at taxpayers’ cost.
The Authority is currently undertaking a review of unused, but still extant air transport licences, that are no longer required since the introduction of the quasi-open skies policy. Shortly, the Authority will be commencing the formal legal process to revoke these licences.
The strategic landscape has changed since some licences were granted for the operation of essential lifeline routes. Therefore, the Authority is also to review the conditions of these licences to ensure they remain relevant and fit for purpose.
Finally, a further area of consideration is in respect to the applications Process guidance. The current timelines associated with the holding of a public hearing are somewhat convoluted and add significant time to the application consideration process. This will be considered as part of the review work to be undertaken, that was referenced earlier.
Sir, I would like to bring this general update towards a conclusion by welcoming its new Member, Deputy Chris Blin, who joined the Authority in January this year, following the resignation of Deputy Neil Inder as a Member of the Authority. I look forward to working with Deputy Blin over the coming months and years and thank Deputy Inder for his contribution to the Authority over recent months.
I thank the Assembly for listening to this update and welcome questions.