Aurigny says its flagship Embraer may still operate the Guernsey to Gatwick route after it's undergone annual maintenance.

Island FM was told in August that Aurigny planned to sell its E195, an aircraft it bought new, with certain custom features, from the Brazilian manufacturer in summer 2014, to provide capacity on the Gatwick route.

Last night, it flew its last sector from Gatwick to Guernsey with passengers, before it entered planned maintenance.

There'd been speculation that this may have been the E195's final commercial flight with Aurigny, but a spokesman says that may not be the case:

"The Embraer 195 is undergoing its annual maintenance programme in January, traditionally a quieter time for travelling, and will remain in service during the first quarter of next year. 

During the Embraer 195 maintenance period, and over the course of the transition to two further ATR’s when Embraer crews will be recertified on the ATR aircraft type, Aurigny will avail of additional chartered ATR capacity to ensure uninterrupted service provisioning."

Aurigny announced in November that it wanted to complete fleet simplification to ATR 72 aircraft. It has three new ones, bought from Airbus/ATR in Toulouse with 'fog busting' technology, to enable landings in misty conditions. If Alderney gets its airport upgrade to a longer runway, then they will also operate there, meaning the airline's two Dorniers, also bought new in 2016 and 2017, may be sold.

“The plans we announced in November to simplify the fleet of aircraft we operate are still ongoing. There are commercial reasons why we can’t give definitive timelines on the likely sale of the Embraer 195 and its replacement by two additional ATR 72s. We will of course update relevant stakeholders when we can, and expect the transition to be complete during 2024."