Mail plane set to fly off for good?

But Guernsey Post is confident that it will be able to retain an air link through a deal with another partner and has stressed that it is ‘business as usual’ for the time being.

While Royal Mail funds the flights to the island, Guernsey Post pays for flights to the UK.

A Royal Mail spokesman said its decision followed consultations with stakeholders last year. It was now proposing using pre-existing ferry links, which would lead to a two-day delivery service.

‘The decision has been made amid a steady decline in letter volumes which results in flights to the island often being under-filled,’ he said.

‘It will reduce costs and reflects our commitment to decreasing our reliance on flights as we work towards a 2040 net-zero target.’

This is similar to a move last year which saw an end to the daily mail flights to Jersey and the Isle of Man.

Guernsey Post chief executive Boley Smillie said Royal Mail had told the company that Guernsey – with its two important greeting cards bulk mail customers – would not be affected at that time, but the position had since changed, which was disappointing news.

‘But to be fair to Royal Mail, while we didn’t enjoy receiving the news, we’ve known since March, so we’ve been working on it,’ he said.

An ATR 72 operated by West Atlantic is used on the route and this can carry up to six tonnes of mail, although sometimes it can be filled before the weight limit is reached due to the volume of packages.

‘On any given day, we are exporting between four and six tonnes of product, but the plane is nearly always full,’ said Mr Smillie.

As for deliveries to the island, about half of the island’s inbound mail comes by air. This is only from Royal Mail and is mostly letters, smaller packets and express delivery items.

Mr Smillie said the aim was to find a partner locally who currently imported product by air, not just mail, so the plane can be shared.

‘As commercial negotiations are under way it is too early to comment further, but we are making good progress,’ he said.

‘We’re working very hard to find an alternative provider and at the moment, we’re confident of being able to do that and maintain next day delivery services to the UK from Guernsey.’

Guernsey’s two major users of the daily mail plane are greetings cards companies Moonpig and Funky Pigeon.

Neither could be contacted for comment.

But both have been kept informed of developments by Guernsey Post since the company learned of Royal Mail’s plans.