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
Mackinac Island, Michigan island. To commemorate this tribe, the Ottawa and Chippewa (Ojibwe) named the island as "Mi-shi-ne-macki-nong," also known as "Michilimackinac" by the 18th century. In 1654 Jesuit missionaries recorded French traders at the island, who were with a large party of Huron and Ottawa heading to Three Rivers. Another trader was said to have made a canoe voyage to the island in 1665. The French colonists continued in the fur trade, which became extremely lucrative; they operated out of Montreal and established posts on "Mi-shi-ne-macki-nong" and throughout the Great Lakes area. After the French ceded their territory in North America to