Skip to main content

Blue Islands’ performance is questioned by Jersey deputies

Recent performance of Blue Islands and its indebtedness to the Government of Jersey have been questioned by that island’s politicians.

Deputy Jonathan Renouf asked if the airline appeared to be spreading itself too thinly across its route network.
Deputy Jonathan Renouf asked if the airline appeared to be spreading itself too thinly across its route network. / Guernsey Press

Three questions were posed to ministers during yesterday’s meeting of the States Assembly about the airline’s recent record on flights delays and cancellations, the impact on the island’s health patients seeking treatment in Southampton, and the government’s financial relationship with the airline, which dates back to Covid times.

‘We appreciate the difficulties that islanders have experienced over the past few weeks as a result of rescheduled and sometimes cancelled Blue Island services, but it is important to recognise that these are operational matters for the airline itself,’ said Economic Development minister Kirsten Morel.

‘I and my fellow ministers continue to strongly emphasise to Blue Islands that it must work to mitigate the recent disruption, the impact they are having on customers, and I understand that Blue Islands are working to resolve the technical issues that are affecting its fleet.

‘There have been additional challenges within the aviation supply chain that have exacerbated these.’

Deputy Morel quoted a figure of 4% of flights being cancelled, but Deputy Louise Doublet pressed on ‘multiple delayed flights’, and incidences of no staff at the airport and passengers being ‘stranded’ in the middle of the night at the airport with no taxis available.

She also claimed that some travel insurance policies were refusing to pay out in such circumstances.

Debate switched to EU levels of compensation for technical delays – Deputy Morel warned that introducing such a prospect might lead to airlines no longer wanting to serve the island – and whether Blue Islands received any subsidies from government, either direct or route-based.

Deputy Jonathan Renouf asked if the airline appeared to be spreading itself too thinly across its route network.

Deputy Morel said that he had been concerned about that in relation to Blue Islands ‘may be overextending itself’ with, it is understood, two or three of its five aircraft currently out of action, and at times having had just one plane operational.

Health minister Tom Binet said that his team was in ‘daily contact’ with Blue Islands about patient flights. He said that on average there were 15 Jersey patients on return flights, most to Southampton, every day.

‘On the evidence presented, I’m comfortable that Blue Islands fully understand the essential nature of these medical appointments, and it’s clear from their recent actions that they’re prioritising Jersey patients to make sure the transfer is planned,’ he said.

‘To the extent that the information has been relayed to me, the best arrangements that can be made are being made. I would have thought, short of hiring planes individually, there’s little else we can do, given that we are on an island in the middle of the Channel.’

Former chief minister Kristina Moore was largely frustrated in asking the Treasury minister how the airline was being held to account under the loan agreement with the island.

Treasury minister Elaine Millar frequently repeated commercial sensitivities to fend off questions but said the Treasury was committed to and was undertaking ‘appropriate oversight’ of operational and financial performance.

She said that she was satisfied that the airline’s performance was acceptable under the terms of the agreement.

Blue Islands did not respond to Guernsey Press questions.

Jersey politicians all agree their island is better off not owning an airline

Jersey politicians did appear to agree on one thing in debate yesterday – that their island was better off not owning and operating an airline and instead being served by private airlines running without government subsidy.

‘My general stance on things is that you do not, in general, want government running any commercial operations.

‘That’s a general rule. It’s not a hard and fast rule, but that is how I would suggest life in this island is better served, and certainly when it comes to something as technical as running an airline, I would strongly suggest that government should not be involved in running airlines,’ said Economic Development minister Deputy Kirsten Morel.

He alluded to the Guernsey States covering losses incurred by Aurigny, while not mentioning either by name.

‘I shall seek stronger resilience in this area, and maybe if it’s possible to have an airline operating with more than four or five planes, that would be helpful.

‘But at the moment, we have Blue Islands who do their best, and I know they always do their best to provide services to passengers and to make sure that lifeline services are affected.

‘I do have assurance from Blue Islands themselves, with regard to the Health minister’s earlier answers, that Blue Islands does seek and does understand the importance of the Southampton route, and does seek to make sure that its timetable protects that Southampton route as much as possible.’

You need to be logged in to comment. If you had an account on our previous site, you can migrate your old account and comment profile to this site by visiting this page and entering the email address for your old account. We'll then send you an email with a link to follow to complete the process.