The small airline Aurigny, based in Guernsey, in the Channel Islands, has sold its sole Embraer E195 to the lessor Azorra.
The aircraft had been purchased directly from the manufacturer in 2014 and had been flying from the tax haven in the English Channel to various destinations in the UK and Europe since then.
However, Aurigny executives decided to end flights with the E195 in May, claiming that the jet was too expensive to operate.
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“It is a good aircraft, but it is getting older and it is an extremely, extremely expensive aircraft to maintain,” Nico Bezuidenhout, Aurigny’s CEO, told the BBC in May.
According to a statement from Azorra, Bezuidenhout once again stated that the E195 is a good jet, but that the company was looking to simplify the fleet, which operates with ATR 72 and Dornier Do-228 turboprops.
Azorra, which has managed dozens of Embraer jets, celebrated the acquisition. “The E195 continues to be in high demand and this opportunity to assist Aurigny is complementary to supporting the capacity needs of our existing Embraer customer base,” said Michael Davis, its Chief Marketing Officer.
The aircraft registration G-NSEY had been delivered in June 2014 configured with 122 seats in a single class.
The final flight took place on 31 May and on 11 July the E195 was flown to Exeter for storage.
