Alderney Airport’s runway planning costs rocket

Alderney Airport are currently facing increasing planning costs for their runway extension, according to the government body responsible for Guernsey’s ports and airline.

Original suggestions for the new runway would have allowed for bigger planes to land. Previous investigations included the potential use of EMAS technology, a surface that is added to stop planes overrunning. London City Airport have used this technology in their runway extension.

The States Trading Supervisory Board (STSB) have said that £1.15M has been spent from the budget of £1.76M.

This announcement was made a month after news broke that the estimated cost of building the extension has risen by 50% to £37M, according to Guernsey’s Policy and Resources (P&R).

P&R have also said that due to the “large differences”, the project no longer met its “objectives under the original business case”.

P&R said it recognised the “importance of maintaining suitable airlinks to Alderney” and would “revisit options for a smaller scale and more affordable solution”.

Earlier this month, Nigel Vooght, from the States of Alderney, said he was “disappointed” the costs had risen as it would “inevitably cause further delays”, but welcomed P&R’s proposal to “seek constructive solutions”.

Deputy Peter Roffey, STSB president, said the remaining budget was “sufficient” to find a “smaller scale and more affordable solution”.

Mr Roffey added that budget had so far been spent on technical advice, design work, project management and ground and environmental surveys.