On August 12, 2013, Aurigny Airlines announced that it had ordered a single Embraer 195 for delivery by the middle of 2014.
The airline also noted that because of the delay in obtaining the new aircraft directly from Embraer, it would be wet leasing a similar aircraft for a short period of time.
The need for this was explained by the withdrawal of Flybe from the Guernsey to London Gatwick route which the new aircraft will be operated on in March 2014. As this loss of service would impact heavily, a wet leased Embraer 195 would operate the route for Aurigny for two or three months until the new aircraft is delivered and crew trained to operate the aircraft.
The aircraft will join Aurigny’s ATRs, which operate six flights a day to Gatwick. The airline plans to keep its oldest aircraft, an ATR72-200, as a backup to the new aircraft for an extended period of time.
Easyjet, the airline that is buying Flybe’s Gatwick slots, has not revealed if it intends to operate the route from March 2014 when Flybe abandons the route.
