01 August 2007
A proposal to repeal the Air Transport Permits (Jersey) Law 1998, which regulates the number of flights operating to and from Jersey, has been lodged by the Minister for Economic Development.
It was believed that this ‘open skies’ policy would benefit Islanders, the business community and tourism. Since the policy came in the effect has been positive with a climate of route expansion and no evidence of a loss of year-round scheduled services. High-frequency inter-Island flights have not suffered either.
It is a source of pride that Jersey now has a route network which covers more than 70 airports across the United Kingdom, Ireland, mainland Europe, the Mediterranean and Madeira, operated by scheduled and charter airlines, of which 14 operate year-round and an additional 17 operate during the summer season.
Encouragingly, there has been an increase in passenger demand, with a projected total of 1.65 million passengers for 2007, up from 1.49 in 2006.
The Minister for Economic Development, Senator Philip Ozouf said, “It is clear that Island businesses, residents and visitors alike are best served by encouraging further competition and avoiding the imposition of unnecessary administrative costs either on the airlines or the authorities”. Economic Development and Jersey Airport are working hard to further expand our network encouraging our existing valued carriers to expand and encouraging new routes and airlines. The developments made in the last 18 months have been tremendous and there is more to come.
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