THERE are currently no plans to suspend Loganair’s direct flights between Jersey and Bordeaux despite major wildfires threatening the French city, the airline has confirmed.
Around 220,000 people have been evacuated in France as firefighters battle some of the country’s worst-ever wildfires, with the blazes now just nine miles from the main metropolitan area of Bordeaux.
The airline, which launched its direct Jersey-Bordeaux service this summer, said there were “no plans” to suspend flights.
However, it added that if Bordeaux Airport authorities halted operations, no airlines would be able to fly there.
Bordeaux Airport said it remained operational but was prioritising departing flights while supporting the emergency response.
One Islander, Steve Pallot, said his return flight from Bordeaux to Jersey had been cancelled and rerouted via Paris Charles de Gaulle.
“Loganair emailed us to say that they had cancelled the flight and that if we wanted to reroute via Charles de Gaulle, there would be no cost implications,” he said.
Mr Pallot described seeing several fires while flying into Bordeaux and said the city was blanketed by smoke.
“When flying into Bordeaux, there was a lot of smoke and you could see the fires,” he said. “There were most probably four or five different areas of fire. It looked fairly scary.”
