Blue Islands suspends operations with immediate effect

The company issued a statement shortly before 10pm after rumours circulated of its demise during the afternoon.

Staff had not expected any announcement but all received emails a few minutes before the media release was circulated and were told they no longer had a job. The company had been advertising positions online.

‘After 26 years of serving the Channel Islands, we deeply regret that Blue Islands has this evening suspended its operations,’ the statement read.

The airline owed some £7m. to the Government of Jersey from an £8.5m. loan made at the height of Covid. It was unclear on Friday whether the government had called that loan in, but Jersey politicians had expressed concern in recent months about problems with the airline, including a slimming back of schedules and what appeared to be no progress in paying back the loan.

‘After very constructive dialogue with Government of Jersey in recent months, including what we understood to have been ongoing assessments of the future options, we were informed this afternoon that they are unable to provide further support,’ the statement continued.

‘This has meant that we now need to suspend flying immediately whilst we consider the options available and how we can help our customers, staff and stakeholders.’

People with Blue Islands bookings were told not to go to the airport and although advice was offered about the prospects of refunds on tickets bought none of them involved direct help from the airline.

It said that for bookings made directly with Blue Islands, people should contact their bank or payment card provider used to make the booking; for bookings made with codeshare partner Aurigny but travelling on a Blue Islands flight, passengers should contact Aurigny directly as some flights may still be operating; and for bookings made through a travel agent or holiday company, they should contact the company you booked with for advice and guidance.

The airline operated flights between Jersey and Guernsey, and from the islands to Southampton, Exeter, East Midlands, Dublin, Leeds, Norwich and Newcastle.

It also operated routes from Jersey to Bristol and Paris and has offered trips to Mallorca, Verona, Munich for Oktoberfest and Bruges for the Christmas Markets.

The Southampton route is considered a ‘lifeline’ service by the States because it is used by patients needing hospital treatment in the UK.

The Jersey government said it had support ‘ready and available’ to help Jersey-based passengers.

It said it had contingency plans which would mean that connections were swiftly reinstated and priority given to medical routes.

Ferry company Islands Unlimited, which had offered inter-island services through the summer until the end of October, said it would step in where it could, working with Jersey company Water Taxi CI.

Alan Sillett, president of the Guernsey Hospitality Association, posted on social media: ‘Tonight’s news should be a real wake up call. Guernsey’s air links model is likely to go from an 85% monopoly to a 100% monopoly. This shows our lack of resilience. We need major airlines to enter the market. Regional airlines are very fragile unless they have a bail out option.’

Blue Islands was launched in 2006, although its origins date back to 1999 when it was launched from Alderney as Le Cocq’s Air Link to supply produce from England.

It started carrying passengers in 2002 between Alderney and Bournemouth on a Islander aircraft.

The airline was renamed Rockhopper in 2003, and a year later, it was taken over by Healthspan under the chairmanship of Guernsey businessman Derek Coates. It rebranded as Blue Islands in 2006, but a vision to offer island holidays with hotels and the airline in to the client base of the Healthspan Group never really took off, and the hotels were sold in June 2022, shortly after Healthspan itself was sold to the Norwegian business Orkla Health.