Loganair has announced it will take over from Blue Islands to operate regional routes between the Channel Islands and the UK.
The Scottish airline will offer ‘rescue fares’ from Sunday to aid passengers who have been left stranded due to Blue Islands’ suspension of operations on Friday night.
These will be available to book on Loganair’s website for the following routes:
The above will include medical routes between the Channel Islands and Southampton.
In addition, Aurigny will be running flights as often as three times a day between Guernsey and Southampton, and up to twice daily between Guernsey and Jersey, until 17 December.
After operating its ‘rescue’ flights, Loganair says it will “lead to establishing a new permanent operating base in Jersey.”
It is unclear whether Loganair will adopt all of the routes Blue Islands had previously run.
While Loganair is adopting many similar routes and flight times to those previously offered by Blue Islands, any tickets purchased for the collapsed airline will not be valid in the future.
Blue Islands issued the following advice to passengers who have had their flights cancelled:
” For bookings made directly with Blue Islands, please contact your bank or provider of the payment card used to make the booking;
“For bookings made through our codeshare partner Aurigny but travelling on a Blue Islands flight, please contact Aurigny directly – some flights may still be operating;
“For bookings made through a travel agent or holiday company, please contact the company through whom you booked for advice and guidance.”
Travellers wishing to board any Loganair flights must purchase new tickets from the company.
In a statement on Saturday morning, the company said: “Following yesterday’s news that Blue Islands will cease operations with immediate effect, we will be offering new flights to support affected passengers. This includes the essential medical route to Southampton.
“We understand this will be a worrying time for those hoping to travel to and from Jersey. We’ve moved quickly to begin operations starting this Sunday, 16 November.
“This will lead to establishing a new permanent operating base in Jersey.
“To assist affected Blue Islands customers in reaching their destinations with minimal disruption, special rescue fares are available to purchase via the Loganair website.
In response, Ports of Jersey said: “We thank Loganair for their swift response and commitment to supporting Jersey’s connectivity at this critical moment.
“We look forward to collaborating with them in the weeks and months ahead as we build a strong and sustainable partnership for the island.”
Will Loganair operate flights between Guernsey and Southampton?
It has not yet been confirmed whether Loganair will be able to run flights between Guernsey and Southampton.
As this air route is deemed essential, the Scottish airline will need to apply for a licence first.
Deputy Sasha Kazantseva-Miller, President of Guernsey’s Committee for Economic Development, said in a statement: “Following the sad news about Blue Islands, we are aware of understandable discussion and concern about the routes it served – particularly the Southampton route.
“As a lifeline route, Southampton-Guernsey is designated an essential air route. What this means is that no airline can operate that route without a licence.
“We designate some air routes as essential so that it allows us to have direct involvement in who operates it, and therefore the standard of service on that route.
“We are aware that Loganair has put this route on its website, albeit customers cannot currently book it. We have contacted Loganair to clarify that a licence is needed to operate the route and it does not currently have one”.
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