Aurigny says 60% of its seats to Paris have already sold for April, the month the direct service launches.

The airline will fly from Guernsey to Paris Charles de Gaulle direct, Mondays and Fridays.

It helps fulfill an obligation on the States to provide islanders with better connectivity into Europe.

This means the route is subsidised by the Economic Development Committee.

It has up to £324,000 set aside for this year, but the subsidy, or part of it, will only be paid to Aurigny, itself wholly States owned, if the route doesn't achieve revenue targets.

Over the coming years the subsidies look like this:

·       2025 (full year):           up to £391,500;

·       2026 (full year):          up to £327,000;

·       2027 (Jan to Mar):      up to £77,500.’

Aurigny says 60% of the tickets for April have already sold, but what isn't clear is the split between those bought by locals heading to Paris or Parisians coming to Guernsey.

Aurigny's CEO, Nico Bezuidenhout, is pleased with the forward sales:

“As with the establishment of any new regular route, we anticipate that a full season of operations will give us a clear idea of passenger demand for the service.

We look forward to welcoming passengers who appreciate the convenience of a regular, direct service to Paris and beyond.”

Aurigny is reintroducing its London City and Stansted routes this year, which were dropped due to lack of demand, and the pandemic, respectively.

It's understood its regular and seasonal routes, post March, will be flown by ATRs, as the jet is due to be taken out of service, for sale, by the end of March.