Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2006 | Page 35

“Plane now leaving”
… from Isle of Wight!
August 2 was a
landmark day for
the Island, with
the launch of a
new scheduled
flight service from
Sandown Airport.
Starting as a limited service, with
flights to London and the Channel
Islands three days a week, there
are high hopes that the trial will
quickly expand to take in other
destinations.
Airline operator Chris Williams,
a North Wales-based businessman
and himself a seasoned pilot, says
the three-month trial schedule is
being funded to gauge the level
of demand from Islanders for an
airline service.
“We have had lots of enquiries in
the past about flights to London
and the Channel Islands so we are
responding with this trial to test
it out” says Chris, who also runs
a flying school at Sandown. “We
are very much enquiry-led in the
business, so if a customer asks we
will always see what we can do. If
we find there’s enough support for
these services we’ll carry on from
October”.
The opening services will run on
Monday, Wednesday and Friday,
with 40-50 minute flights to London
City and back on each of the three
days, and to Guernsey and back on
Mondays and Fridays.
The service will use a 10-seater
Piper PA31 Chieftain aircraft, but
will only carry six passengers until
the runway has been extended.
Plans for extending the 900-metre
grass runway to 1,199 metres will

allow for more passengers to
be carried, and in the longer
term, there are plans for the
runway to be tarmacadamed
so flights could carry up to 50
people.
Currently Chris, whose
company CJW Holdings also
owns the Island’s Fairway
Holiday Park, is in the process
of getting certification from
the Civil Aviation Authority
for a subsidiary company,
Wight Airlines co-owned
with the airport’s owner Dick
Steele.
The ultimate aim is to
operate shuttle services
to
Bournemouth
and
Southampton along with
longer city-hopper flights
to London, Manchester and
Coventry.

Island Life - www.islandlifemagazine.net

Wight Airlines - Flight times and prices

Reservations: 01983 402402
MONDAY
Depart
SANDOWN
09:20
LONDON CITY
10:35
SANDOWN
11:50
GUERNSEY
13:05
SANDOWN
15:10
LONDON CITY
16:25

Arrive
LONDON
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