An Uber of the sky for the Channel Islands?

Tuesday 17 January 2017

A Guernsey-based air taxi service, which would see passengers book to fly via an Uber-style app, could be making ‘Waves’ in the Channel Islands very soon if it successfully secures its Air Operators Certificate (AOC).

Gaining the AOC is a rigorous process, but Waves Technologies Limited is “confident” that it will have a functional inter-island service by the summer, funded by a group of local private equity investors.

Pitched at both business and leisure travellers, the taxi-style flight operator will initially offer trips priced in the region of £45-£75 between Guernsey, Jersey and Alderney – sometimes running as frequently as four times hourly – before expanding to Southampton, Northern France, and even Spain and Italy by 2018.

While Blue Islands already provides pan-island travel, CEO Nick Magliochetti told Express that his airline was, “…not here to create a competitor, we’re here to create an alternative, and if that rejuvenates the offering in the process, then that’s great.”

Part of that rejuvenation involves launching three different flying options:

• Normal scheduled services, which can be booked via iPhone or Android apps or by telephone
• Scheduled private flights, in which individuals can pay to release the excess seats
• Off-schedule flights, which would allow jet setters the opportunity to choose a flight path and have their costs reduced if other users wish to join the flight

Mr Magliochetti said that the team had been working on new endeavour, “…for a substantial part of 2016,” after he had arrived in the Channel Islands in August last year.

“My background is solving large problems and using technology to do that… I had conversations with over 1,000 people about what they like about the island, what they don’t like, their pet peeves, and about 998 all said transport.

“The people are naturally frustrated with the flexibility that they’re offered and the schedules they’re offered… The fundamentals of what we’re doing is we’re trying to reengineer the way people travel.”

Operating from a private facility next to the main Guernsey Airport Terminal, the company also hopes to offer an “interesting new security method,” with more details to be released in the near future.

“If you consider the time it takes to get from Guernsey to Jersey, you haven’t even walked through security. We’ll be offering a fully on-demand service… It’s a point to point carrier, which takes advantage of technology.”

COO Captain Matt Bisson has over ten years of experience with Aurigny – from which the airline drew much of its inspiration. He’ll be flying the new “rugged and efficient” 10-14 passenger Cessna Grand Caravan EX planes.

Commenting on Waves’ plans, he said: “I fondly remember the Aurigny of the early 90’s and wish to recreate this with a modern twist. I loved flying Trislanders and want to take the people of Alderney, Guernsey and Jersey back to the type of relaxed and regular inter-island service they enjoyed 20 years ago but still need today.

“We have, however, seen how we can blend in some modern equipment and efficiencies to make the passenger experience even better, also profitable and sustainable - that’s exactly how Waves came about.

"I believe people will come to love our choice of aircraft in the same way a generation loved the Trislander.”