Airline Blue Islands has suspended trading, cancelling all flights.
Just a day ahead of Friday’s announcement, the company had shared an advert, recruiting for roles including pilots, engineers and head of cabin crew.
Confirming the closure on its website, it wrote: ” We regret to inform you that Blue Islands has suspended trading effective on 14 November 2025. All future flights operated by Blue Islands have been cancelled.”
The company warned those with tickets to fly not to travel to the airport unless they had made alternative travel arrangements.
It told customers: “We deeply regret the inconvenience that this will bring to your travel plans”.
The Channel Islands-based regional airline had bases in Jersey and Guernsey, and flew to Southampton, Bristol, East Midlands, Exeter, Dublin, Newcastle and Norwich, and also to Paris and Bruges.
It had employed about 100 people.
Blue Islands advised disappointed travellers who had booked directly with the airline to contact their bank or credit card provider, or their travel agent or holiday company if booked through a third party.
Rescue fares and medical help
Several airlines stepped in to help stranded customers.
Blue Islands’ codeshare partner Aurigny scheduled 10 additional services between Guernsey and Southampton and eight additional services between Guernsey and Jersey between Saturday and Wednesday.
While Glasgow-based regional airline Loganair introduced special rescue fares for affected passengers on selected routes from Sunday.
With the airline offering a vital service for patients needing hospital treatment in the UK, Health and Care Jersey (HCJ) said it would be contacting patients with upcoming UK clinical appointments, or those who had already travelled to the UK for treatment.
Airline closure should be a ‘wake-up call’
During the Covid pandemic, Blue Islands borrowed £8.5m from the government of Jersey to help secure and maintain vital lifeline services.
A Jersey audit office report showed £7m was still owed last summer.
Formed initially in 1999 as Le Cocq’s Air Link to supply perishable goods to the Channel Island of Alderney from Bournemouth using Britten Norman Islanders, the company took its first passengers in 2002.
Trading under the name Rockhopper from 2003, it rebranded in 2006 as Blue Islands. Ten years later the company became a Flybe franchise partner, restoring its name again in 2020 when Flybe closed.
Commenting on Blue Islands’ demise, Guernsey Hospitality Association president and director Alan Sillett wrote 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 bailout option.”
A spokesperson for Blue Islands said: “After 26 years of serving the Channel Islands, we deeply regret that Blue Islands has this evening suspended its operations.
“After very constructive dialogue with the 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.
“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.”
Earlier this week, Sky News presenter Jonathan Samuels wrote about the dramatic fall in domestic UK flights, with the figure more than halving over the past two decades.
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