30th January 1935
Jersey Airways demands Guernsey monopoly
When the States of Guernsey started discussing plans for a new airport at La Villaize, which would take over from the island’s boggy landing strip at L’Eree, Jersey Airways spotted an opportunity.
Guernsey airport, which was strongly opposed across the island, was expected to cost around £100,000 to build (around £7m today). Jersey Airways, which had not long been in existence itself, offered to underwrite the full cost of the building works in return for an agreement that it would have exclusive rights to fly to and from the new facility for its first five years of operation.
It should perhaps be thankful that the States of Guernsey didn’t accept its offer as the airport wasn’t finished until a few months before the start of the Occupation. As a result, scheduled services were unable to use it until 1945. By that point Jersey Airways’ exclusive rights to operate from the base would have expired.
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Other events that occured in January
Death of Jersey sewage pioneer
- Pierre Le Sueur embarked on an ambitious plan to lay sewage pipes beneath St Helier as the town's population grew.
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Missing parents are declared dead
- Elizabeth and Nicholas Newell were last seen alive in October 1997. Just over three years later they were declared dead.
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Jerriais poet Jean Dorey is born
- Jean Dorey was one of the most prolific writers working in the Jèrriais language, which he wrote alongside French and English.
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Night of the Fox is first published
- Jack Higgins' Jersey-set book Night of the Fox was first published in January 1986. It was later made into a film.
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