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.