Blue Islands
| File:BlueIslandsLogo.gif | |||||||
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| Founded | 1999 | ||||||
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| Hubs | Jersey Airport Guernsey Airport | ||||||
| Focus cities | Southampton Airport Bournemouth Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 8 | ||||||
| Destinations | 10 | ||||||
| Parent company | AirX Ltd | ||||||
| Headquarters | Alderney - Registered Office
Guernsey - Headquarters Jersey - Operations Base | ||||||
| Key people | Derek Coates (Chairman) Paul Sabin (Managing Director) | ||||||
| Website | http://www.blueislands.com | ||||||
Blue Islands is an airline based in Jersey in the Channel Islands. Blue Islands is a trading name for AirX Limited. It operates scheduled services from and within the Channel Islands and to France and the UK mainland. Its main base of operations is Jersey Airport (JER). There is also a small hub and aircraft base at Alderney Airport (ACI).
History
The airline was established in 2001 by Le Cocq's Stores and was initially known as Le Cocq's Airlink. It started operations carrying perishable goods from Bournemouth to Alderney. Scheduled services were added on the same route on 1 February 2002. The Rockhopper name was adopted on 29 August 2003[1]. The company moved its main operating base from Alderney to Jersey in January 2006. Its Headquarters is now at Healthspan House, The Grange, St. Peter Port, Guernsey. The airline is wholly owned by the Healthspan Group[1].
The company changed the trading name from Rockhopper to Blue Islands on 14 February 2006. The move coincided with the delivery of the first of its new fleet of 19-seater BAe Jetstream aircraft and a new air link with the Isle of Man.
Since the launch of the BAe Jetstream aircraft on Inter-Island services Blue Islands has gained a significant share of the market from its state owned competitor, even more so recently with the introduction of an hourly shuttle service between Guernsey and Jersey known as the "Blue Shuttle". At December 2007 Blue Islands estimated share of the Inter-Island market was reported to be over 50%. Blue Islands have also gone on to launch new routes from the Channel Islands to Paris-Beauvais (ceased July 2008), Southampton, Geneva and Zurich with plans to start services to Brussels, Luxembourg and other European financial centres. They ended the Alderney - Shoreham route on 12th February 2008
Destinations
Blue Islands operates the following services (at July 2008)
- Crown dependencies:
- United Kingdom:
- International:
Fleet
The Blue Islands fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of 10 July 2008) [1]:
- 1 Britten-Norman Islander
- 2 Britten-Norman Trislander (One for sale[2])
- 4 BAe Jetstream 32EP
- 1 Dornier 328-110 (which is operated by ScotAirways) [3]
External links
References
- ^ a b "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-03-27. p. 87.
- ^ G-LCOC sale details. Also for sale on www.controller.com
- ^ G-BYHG with Blue Islands titles on 6 November 2007