Blue Islands has announced that it will boost inter-island traffic in the Channel Islands this November with the addition of two extra rotations between Jersey and Guernsey every Wednesday. This will see the carrier operate five round trips between the islands compared to the usual three, resulting in 1,300 additional seats.

The current state of affairs on the route

At present, Blue Islands is the only airline that flies between Jersey Airport (JER) and Guernsey Airport (GCI), the two main hubs serving the Channel Islands by air. The route between the two is a busy one, with data from the UK Civil Aviation Authority showing that Jersey Airport was typically handling more than 100,000 passengers to or from Guernsey per year before the onset of coronavirus.

Of course, passenger numbers fell in 2020, as was the case with routes all over the world. Indeed, data provided by Guernsey Airport shows that it handled just over 20,000 passengers flying to or from Jersey in 2020. Nonetheless, this still made it the airport's fourth-busiest route, with this demand now beginning to show again.

At present, Blue Islands is operating three flights in each direction between Jersey and Guernsey every day. Guernsey-bound flights leave Jersey at 07:40, 12:10, and 17:40, with those serving Jersey departing at 08:20, 12:50, and 17:00.

Jersey Airport
Blue Islands' flights between Jersey and Guernsey have scheduled block times of just 20 minutes. Photo: Getty Images

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November boost

However, with passenger traffic now rebounding strongly, Blue Islands has announced its plans to add two extra round trips between the islands every Wednesday in November. The airline has cited both business and leisure factors as being factors in the decision to boost the schedules. Its CEO, Rob Veron, stated:

"We’re all now enjoying the value of face-to-face meetings once again, as such we have seen demand for inter-island travel steadily returning. (...) It’s great to also be welcoming local sporting teams onboard again too, as important inter-island fixtures return - we’ve added several additional services for recent group fixtures. Increasing the frequency of inter-island flights during November enables us to build back better, sustainably."

The additional flights, which are now bookable, leave Jersey at 09:20 and 16:50. One of the existing flights has also been retimed, with the 12:10 departure now leaving at 12:00. Traveling from Guernsey, the additional services depart at 08:40 and 17:30, with the 12:50 departure having been retimed to 12:40.

Guernsey Airport
The return of sporting fixtures played a role in the decision to add extra capacity. Photo: Andrew Milligan via Flickr

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Keeping the islands connected

Traffic between Jersey and Guernsey isn't solely reliant on air travel, as there are also ferry services that make the crossing in either one or two hours. However, there is clearly a lot of value in Blue Islands' faster flights, given that it has seen sufficient demand to add two extra rotations on Wednesdays in November.

Of course, these services also allow for greater connectivity in terms of onward journeys. While Blue Islands' offering from Guernsey is fairly limited, passengers can fly from there to Jersey and connect onwards to a greater variety of UK and European destinations. In this regard, Veron concludes that:

"Blue Islands is here to provide year-round sustainable air connectivity to and from the Channel Islands. Keeping Jersey and Guernsey connected is a vital part of this role."

Sources: Blue Islands, CAA, Guernsey Airport