Blue Islands announce new routes following relaunch
The Channel Islands' airline Blue Islands will now fly to Bristol, Birmingham and Exeter, the routes formerly covered by Flybe.
The company has undergone a relaunch, helped by a £10 million loan from Jersey's government, which also includes a new website and a transformed look of its aircraft. The carrier says it will also have routes to Manchester, East Midlands and Dublin.
Following the collapse of Flybe in March, of which Blue Islands was a franchisee, the company established itself as an independent airline.
Flybe which was bought by a consortium of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital in February 2019, ran into financial problems. It appeared to strike a deal with the UK government over a £100 million tax bill in January 2020, but a slump in bookings because of coronavirus meant the company went bust.
Blue Islands say that tickets for its new routes have gone on sale and customers are being invited to sign up to the company's new Blue Skies Club frequent flyer programme. The CEO of the airline says the company has been working on making the service as simple as possible, with no hidden costs and stresses over bag restrictions, something Flybe was criticised for.
Blue Islands have continued to operate during lockdown, providing lifeline flights from Jersey to Southampton and Gatwick.