Tourism chiefs say subsidies may be necessary to protect air links
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Calls for subsidies for airlines serving Guernsey are gaining support.
Flight subsidies were initially suggested by the President of the Tourist Board, Deputy Geoff Norman.
His idea has now received support from the Guernsey Hotel and Tourism Association (GHATA).
Deputy Norman said the island may have to consider subsidies to airlines to preserve the island's airlinks.
Scrapping charges
His comments follow the recent scrapping of the direct Guernsey to Amsterdam and Guernsey to Zurich routes.
The President of GHATA, Carl Symes, agreed that subsidies may have to be considered.
He said the subsidies would not necessarily have to be direct payments to the operators but could take the form of scrapping airport charges to keep costs for the airlines down.
And Mr Symes said the airport and the harbour should be seen as "gateways" rather than profit generators to benefit all users.
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