Aurigny oldest established airlines in Britain after Loganair. The origin of its name lies in the cognate across Norman languages for Alderney. Aurigny Air Services was founded by Sir Derrick Bailey and started operations on 1 March 1968 after British United Airways withdrew from the Alderney to Guernsey route. It initially operated Britten-Norman Islander aircraft, developing a highly efficient network linking the Channel Islands with each other and with France and the United Kingdom. During the first year of operations the airline carried 45,000 passengers between Guernsey, Jersey and Alderney. Aurigny became the first commercial operator of the Britten-Norman Trislander in
Manitoulin Island in Ontario. Manitoulin means "spirit island" in "Anishinaabemowin" (Ojibwe language). The island is considered sacred by the Native Anishinaabe people, who identify as the "People of the Three Fires." This loose confederation is made up of the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi tribes. The North Channel was part of the route used by the French colonial voyageurs and coureurs des bois to reach Lake Superior. The first known European to settle on the island was Father Joseph Poncet, a French Jesuit, who set up a mission near Wiikwemkoong in 1648. The Jesuits called the island ""Isle de Ste-Marie"." The endemic Eurasian