Aurigny says it did not want to put its red and white leased ATR into full service straight away to avoid any potential for disruption to passengers.

The ATR 72-600 is being leased by Aurigny from Jetstream, a Miami-based leasing company.

It came across from the United States in July and after refuelling in Iceland, landed in Guernsey at just after 9am on 19 July, in the red and white of Avianca Guatemala.

At the time of delivery, Aurigny explained why it will use it in those colours:

'It will initially be operated in a red and white colour scheme to expedite entry into service, before Aurigny’s livery is applied during this coming winter.'

It was safety-checked, registered as G-PEMB - a reference to Pembroke Bay-  and went into service in August.

But not long after, it was grounded twice for repairs, described at the time by Aurigny as 'expected teething issues.'

Aurigny says it did not want to put the aircraft on too many rotations from day one:

"We felt it prudent not to rush the aircraft into a full schedule straight away. This meant that if, for any reason, we discovered an unexpected issue that needed rectifying, there would be no need to delay, reschedule or cancel a significant number of flights."

"This decision reduced the risk of disruption for our customers, which is one of our key objectives in all our operations. We described this initial period as a 'soft launch' meaning the aircraft was ready to enter service, but as a small airline with a limited back up fleet, extra caution is usually advised."

August ended up being a disruptive month for Aurigny customers, with poor weather and two tech issues with G-PEMB.

Added to that, the airline's wet leased ATR aircraft was taken out of service after trying to land in fog, and breaking the minimum decision height for poor visibility approaches into Guernsey Airport.