14th February 2006

Blue Islands takes to the skies

Blue Islands officially came into existence on Valentine’s Day 2006. Before that, the airline had operated under various names, including Rockhopper and Le Cocq’s Airlink. Like Aurigny, it was founded in Alderney, but moved its headquarters to Guernsey and served Jersey as well as the other larger Channel Islands.

Inter-island traffic

Blue Islands grew quickly and gained a significant share of the inter-island market. Its passengers on the Jersey to Guernsey route accounted for almost 70% of all journeys between the islands by 2009, despite continued competition from Aurigny. It was so successful that it was able to mount a bid to buy Aurigny from the States of Guernsey. There was a great amount of discussion at government level about the benefits of the move but it eventually fell through in September 2014.

Blue Islands operated three Trislanders between 2001 and 2011. These were the same models as Aurigny founder Derrick Bailey had specified for his own airline. It also flew four Islander planes, on which the Trislander was based, until 2011. There are now no Trislanders or Islanders plying the Channel Islands’ skies.

Blue Islands’ distinctive gold and blue livery disappeared from its planes in mid-2016 when it signed a franchise deal with FlyBe which saw its aircraft repainted with FlyBe’s distinctive purple colours.