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Blue Islands Limited is a
regional airline A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...
of the
Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...
. Its head office is in
Forest, Guernsey The Forest (Guernésiais: La Fouarêt, French: La Forêt) is a parish in Guernsey. It is the highest parish on the island, with altitudes of up to about 100 m. The full title of the parish is ''Ste Marguerite de la Foret'', after the parish chur ...
, and its registered office is in Saint Anne, Alderney. It operates scheduled services from and within the Channel Islands to the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
. Its main bases of operation are Guernsey Airport and
Jersey Airport Jersey Airport is an international airport located in the parish of Saint Peter, west northwest of Saint Helier in Jersey, in the Channel Islands. History Foundation and early years Air service to Jersey before 1937 consisted of biplane airl ...
. Blue Islands flights operated under the Flybe brand from June 2016 until Flybe was placed into administration on 5 March 2020.


History

The airline was formally established in 2001 (but had been operating since 1999 as a small operation) by Le Cocq's Stores in Alderney and was initially known as Le Cocq's Airlink. It started operations carrying perishable goods from
Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...
in the south of England to the island of
Alderney Alderney ( ; ; ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependencies, Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest isla ...
. Scheduled services were added on the same route on 1 February 2002. The trading name Rockhopper was adopted on 29 August 2003. In 2004, ownership changed to Healthspan Leisure, and in 2005, Jetstream aircraft were added to the fleet. The company moved its main operating base from Alderney to Jersey in January 2006. Its headquarters are now at Healthspan House, The Grange, St. Peter Port, Guernsey. The airline is wholly owned by the Healthspan Group. The company changed the trading name from Rockhopper, whose call sign had been "Blue Island", to Blue Islands on 14 February 2006. This move coincided with the delivery of the first of its new fleet of 19-seater BAe Jetstream 31 aircraft and a new air link with the
Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...
. The deployment of the BAe Jetstream aircraft on some
Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...
-Jersey services meant Blue Islands gained a majority share of the market from its competitor (according to ''
Airliner World ''Airliner World'' is an aviation magazine published by Key Publishing in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. In the United States, the magazine is distributed from the Key Publishing office in Avenel, New Jersey. The first edition of ''Airliner Wo ...
'' magazine), helped by the introduction of an hourly shuttle service between Guernsey and Jersey known as the Blue Shuttle. In December 2007, Blue Islands' share of the inter-island market was estimated to be over 50%, and in December 2009 its market share had risen to 68%. Blue Islands went on to launch new routes from the Channel Islands to Beauvais–Tillé (ceased July 2008), Southampton, Geneva and Zurich. A Dornier 328-110 (leased from ScotAirways) was added to the fleet in 2007. However, by late 2010, its market share on the Guernsey-Jersey route had fallen to below 50% and its main competitor
Aurigny Aurigny Air Services Limited (pronounced ), commonly known as Aurigny, is the flag carrier airline of the Bailiwick of Guernsey with its head office next to Guernsey Airport in the Channel Islands, and wholly owned by the States of Guernsey ...
was regaining much ground in the Channel Islands market. In 2010, the airline added an ATR 42-320 to its fleet. It emerged in July 2010 that Blue Islands had launched a bid with the
States of Guernsey The States of Guernsey (), officially the States of Deliberation and sometimes referred to as the Government of Guernsey, is the parliament and government of the British Crown dependency of Guernsey. Some laws and ordinances approved by the ...
to buy its competitor,
Aurigny Aurigny Air Services Limited (pronounced ), commonly known as Aurigny, is the flag carrier airline of the Bailiwick of Guernsey with its head office next to Guernsey Airport in the Channel Islands, and wholly owned by the States of Guernsey ...
. This caused much controversy in the Channel Islands, and a Facebook page in opposition to the proposed buy-out gained nearly 600 members. Those in favour of the deal claimed that it did not make sense for the two individual airlines to continue to make such large losses whilst operating in competition with each other. The failure of the deal was announced on 14 September 2010, amidst doubts over the security of Guernsey's slots at
Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport , also known as London Gatwick Airport (), is the Airports of London, secondary international airport serving London, West Sussex and Surrey. It is located near Crawley in West Sussex, south of Central London. In 2024, Gatwic ...
. A number of changes took place in 2011. Rob Veron was appointed as managing director and the Trislander fleet was repainted and refitted for a planned new hub at Alderney with routes to Southampton and
Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...
. However, the application was denied because the start date was within six months of the application date. Blue Islands announced that a full withdrawal from Alderney would take place on 9 May 2011 (coincidentally
Liberation Day Liberation Day is a day, often a public holiday, that marks the liberation of a place, similar to an independence day, but differing from it because it does not involve the original creation of statehood. It commemorates the end of an occupation ...
), after 11 years of services. In March 2011, it announced a twice-daily weekday route (with a once-daily flight on Sundays) from Jersey to
London City Airport London City Airport is an international airport in London, England. It is located in the Royal Docks in the London Borough of Newham, Borough of Newham, about east of the City of London and east of Canary Wharf. These are the two centres ...
, and in April a route to
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
was announced. Daily services between Jersey and
Manchester Airport Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2024, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passengers (the busiest outside of London) ...
were announced in September, along with the restoration of a thrice-weekly service to
Bournemouth Airport Bournemouth Airport (previously known as Hurn Airport and Bournemouth International Airport) is an international airport located north-northeast of Bournemouth, England. The site opened as RAF Hurn in 1941, but was transferred to civil con ...
, in competition with the airline's own regular services to Southampton, as well as those of Flybe. In November, the planned retirement of the Trislander fleet was made public, with the last day of operations to be 4 December. This was because they were 'too noisy, old and small'. On 16 June 2012, a Blue Islands ATR 42-300 registered G-DRFC operating from Guernsey to Jersey suffered a collapse of the left main landing gear while exiting the runway; none of the 43 people on board were injured in the accident. Blue Islands applied to the States of Guernsey for a license to operate a twice-daily Guernsey-Bristol service in competition with Aurigny. A licence hearing was due to take place in January 2013 regarding the application. The application was withdrawn as Blue Islands wishes to concentrate on building the Jersey base. To further supplement its fleet, Blue Islands purchased an ATR 42-320 from Air Atlantique Assistance, entering service on 23 August 2012. Blue Islands announced winter service from Jersey to Chambéry in August 2012, and in October it announced services to Amsterdam and Paris, which would start in February 2013. A further ATR 42-320, registered G-ISLH, entered service in July 2013 and in December 2013 an ATR 72-500, registered G-ISLI, was damp leased from Nordic Aviation Capital to provide extra capacity on the
Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...
to
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
service. The latter aircraft type is now replacing the ATR 42 fleet. A new ATR 72-500 arrived in October 2016, to replace an ATR 42-320 which was retired. Another ATR 42-320 was sold in 2017, and was replaced by another ATR 72. In October 2018, Blue Islands took delivery a fourth ATR 72-500. This aircraft was the first to be delivered during the Flybe franchise without Flybe colours; it sported a modified version of Blue Islands' original livery with small titles, and a white fuselage with blue engines. The airline's last ATR 42 was retired in 2022, following the delivery of another ATR 72. During 2017 and 2018, a summer seasonal service between Guernsey and
Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
was operated. In 2019, new routes from Jersey to
Newquay Newquay ( ; ) is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is a civil parishes in England, civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries with an airport and a spaceport, and a fishing port on t ...
and from Guernsey to
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
and London Southend were launched, however were axed the following year.


Franchise deal with Flybe

In January 2016, Blue Islands revealed their franchise deal with Flybe, which allowed Blue Islands to operate their flights in Flybe branded aircraft. Flybe branded flights began 6 June 2016. In July 2016, Blue Islands was heavily criticized by the States of Jersey and Guernsey after several aircraft were found to have technical problems, causing high numbers of delays and cancellations. This caused weeks of disruption to Blue Islands' services and meetings with States officials to put measures into place to prevent events like this from occurring again. CICRA (the Channel Islands competition
watchdog Watchdog or watch dog may refer to: Animals *Guard dog, a dog that barks to alert its owners of an intruder's presence * Portuguese Watchdog, Cão de Castro Laboreiro, a dog breed * Moscow Watchdog, a breed of dog that was bred in the Soviet U ...
) wrote a letter to the airline, asking them to address the measures and the benefits of the franchise deal with Flybe. In December 2016, CICRA accused Blue Islands of contravening and potentially breaking the Channel Islands' competition laws through the Flybe franchise deal. The watchdog says that the deal "...may have restricted competitive choices, including schedules and which routes the competitors can fly." They say that the airline's response to its letter was not satisfactory and has now started a full investigation into the airline and the franchise.


Post-Flybe relaunch

On 5 March 2020, Flybe ceased operations and entered administration, forcing Blue Islands to resume flying under its own brand and reactivate its own reservation system. Immediately following Flybe's demise, Blue Islands announced it would begin flying to
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
and
Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...
from Jersey, two former Flybe routes. However, shortly after these routes initially commenced, the airline was forced to ground all aircraft following Guernsey and Jersey, as well as the United Kingdom, entering lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the suspension of service, the Government of Jersey announced it would subsidize the airline to operate 'essential flights' from Jersey to Southampton, and later to
London Gatwick Gatwick Airport , also known as London Gatwick Airport (), is the secondary international airport serving London, West Sussex and Surrey. It is located near Crawley in West Sussex, south of Central London. In 2024, Gatwick was the second-bu ...
, in order to transport key workers and medical patients requiring off-island care. In June 2020, the Government of Jersey announced it would provide a £10 million loan to the airline in order to facilitiate the return of its regularly scheduled operations. Following this, the company agreed to a 10-year contract with Jersey Airport to maintain its Jersey aircraft and crew base. In August, Blue Islands officially announced it would relaunch operations, alongside the unveiling of a new livery. As part of the relaunch, airline resumed service from Jersey to Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Exeter, Guernsey and Southampton, as well as from Guernsey to Southampton. Jersey to London City service, which was operated before the pandemic, would not resume. The airline also announced intentions to expand its fleet and take over additional routes that were lost following Flybe's closure. Shortly after, Blue Islands announced it would open a base in Exeter, marking the first time the airline would base aircraft outside of the Channel Islands, and launch twice-daily weekday flights between Exeter and Manchester. It was then announced that the company would open a base in Southampton, and launch flights from Southampton to
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
and Manchester. The latter routes were to be in direct competition with Eastern Airways, who had also announced intentions to open a Southampton base following Flybe's collapse. Both bases were planned to open in September 2020, however this was pushed back into 2021 and eventually 2022, until in February 2022 the plans for both bases were officially scrapped. In September 2020, Blue Islands commenced a codeshare agreement with Scottish regional airline
Loganair Loganair is a Scottish regional airline headquartered at Glasgow Airport in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. The airline primarily operates domestic flights within the United Kingdom. It is the largest regional airline in Scotland by passenger ...
, enabling passengers travelling on Blue Islands' Southampton network to connect onto
Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
(via Manchester),
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
,
Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...
(via Manchester),
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
and
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
, as well as from Exeter to Aberdeen and Inverness (both via Manchester). The deal would also allow Loganair to feed passengers onto Blue Islands flights to the Channel Islands from several UK airports, including Birmingham and Bristol. In November 2021, it was announced that this agreement would expand into a full commercial partnership between both Blue Islands and Loganair as well as Aurigny. Under the expanded agreement, passengers would be able to connect onto the entirety of the three airlines' networks, and earn loyalty points for each of the airlines' loyalty schemes on every flight. The partnership announcement also included a formal non-competitive pact between Aurigny and Blue Islands on routes from Guernsey, as well as a route sharing agreement on flights between Guernsey and Southampton, whereby both airlines would operate a select number of daily flights at different times. As of December 2022 however, the partnership has not fully commenced. In 2021, Blue Islands resumed scheduled service to Europe with the addition of flights to both Dublin and
Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...
from Jersey. Dublin services were initially operated via Belfast City Airport due to licensing issues. Seasonal service from Jersey to
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
also commenced in the same year. The company also expressed interest in flying to
Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
and resuming service to the
Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...
, which both see demand from the financial services industries in both Jersey and Guernsey. It was later announced that service from the Isle of Man to Jersey would resume in November 2023. Service to Birmingham was suspended in October 2024, citing competition from
easyJet EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airlin ...
.


Destinations

As of June 2025, Blue Islands operates the following services:


Codeshare agreements

Blue Islands has codeshare agreements with the following airlines (as of April 2021): *
Aurigny Aurigny Air Services Limited (pronounced ), commonly known as Aurigny, is the flag carrier airline of the Bailiwick of Guernsey with its head office next to Guernsey Airport in the Channel Islands, and wholly owned by the States of Guernsey ...
*
Loganair Loganair is a Scottish regional airline headquartered at Glasgow Airport in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. The airline primarily operates domestic flights within the United Kingdom. It is the largest regional airline in Scotland by passenger ...


Interline agreements

* Hahn Air The airline had a franchise agreement with Flybe until its demise in 2020.


Fleet


Current fleet

As of May 2025, the Blue Islands fleet includes the following aircraft:


Retired aircraft


Incidents and accidents

On 16 June 2012, an ATR 42-320 (registration G-DRFC), operating flight number SI308, suffered a collapse of the left main landing gear while taxiing after landing at Jersey Airport. The aircraft's left propeller and wing tip were damaged after striking the ground, subsequently writing off the aircraft. There were three crew operating the flight and 40 passengers traveling on board. An investigation conducted by the Air Accident Investigation Branch found that the captain was conducting line training for a pilot who had recently joined the company and a 3 g acceleration spike was recorded on touchdown, higher than usual. The investigation determined that fatigue sustained in the lifecycle of the landing gear led to a crack which ultimately resulted in complete failure of the left landing gear. There were no injuries in the incident, except for four passengers injured during the evacuation. In November 2016, one of Blue Islands' ATR 72s was damaged by Storm Angus whilst parked at Guernsey Airport. A piece of airport equipment hit the aircraft, leaving a large dent in its fuselage. An ATR 72-200 was leased from
Danish Air Transport DAT Aktieselskab, A/S, formerly named ''Danish Air Transport'', is a Denmark, Danish airline headquartered in Vamdrup, Kolding Municipality, operating scheduled and chartered passenger flights mainly from airports in Denmark, Norway, Italy and Ge ...
as a backup aircraft.


References


Further reading

*


External links

* {{Guernsey topics , state=collapsed Airlines of Guernsey Airlines established in 2006 European Regions Airline Association Saint Peter Port