Blue Islands

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Blue Islands
IATA None	ICAO BCI	Callsign BLUE ISLAND
Founded		1999
Hubs		Jersey Airport , Alderney Airport and Guernsey Airport
Focus cities		Bournemouth Airport, Shoreham (Brighton City) Airport
Fleet size		8
Destinations		8
Parent company		AirX Ltd
Headquarters		Guernsey Headquarters, Jersey Operations Base
Key people		Paul Sabin (CEO), Derek Coates (Chairman)
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 aircraft base is Jersey Airport (JER), with Guernsey Airport (GCI) also being a hub having however only one aircraft based there. There is also a small hub and aircraft base at Alderney Airport (ACI).

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.

Blue Islands is an airline that concentrates on offering a high level of customer service. Blue Islands does this through its passenger lounges in both Guernsey and Jersey, which offer complimentary refreshments and newspapers as well as television and free Wi-Fi Internet access. Passengers are also permitted to make free changes to their flights online at www.blueislands.com or through Blue Islands reservations centre up to 24 hours before departure online or 1 hour before through reservations. Blue Islands also offers a simple pricing structure, all fares are all inclusive of taxes and charges, with no Credit Card charges.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 History 2 Services 3 Fleet 4 External links 5 References

[edit] 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 and has 72 employees^[1].

[edit] Services

Blue Islands operates the following services (at September 2006)^{[citation needed]}:

• Domestic scheduled destinations:
  • Alderney Airport - HUB
  • Bournemouth Airport UK
  • Guernsey Airport - HUB and Headquarters
  • Jersey Airport - HUB and Operations Base
  • Southampton Airport - Announced that twice daily services from Guernsey will commence in time for the summer season.
  • Shoreham (Brighton City) Airport UK
  • Cardiff Airport UK
  • Isle of Man (Ronaldsway Airport) Crown Dependency
• Planned destinations:
  • Paris - Due to start shortly.
  • Zurich - Scheduled to start later in the year.
  • Geneva - Scheduled to start later in the year.

[edit] Fleet

The Blue Islands fleet consists of the following aircraft (at March 2007)^[1]:

• 1 Britten-Norman BN2A Islander Reg: G-XAXA
• 3 Britten-Norman Trislander Reg: G-BEDP, G-RHOP and G-LCOC
• 3 BAe Jetstream 32EP Reg: G-ISLB, G-ISLC and G-ISLD

[edit] External links

• Blue Islands
• Photos of Rockhopper aircraft
• CI Aviation
• CI Aviation Photos
• CI Colour Photos

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Flight International 27 March 2007