THE Treasury Minister has said she is committed to “ensuring” an £8.5 million loan given to Blue Islands during the pandemic is paid back in full.
Deputy Elaine Millar said she wanted to “reassure” politicians and the public that the government was carrying out “appropriate oversight” of the airline.
Blue Islands recently had to reduce services on four routes due to issues with its fleet.
The minister was responding to an oral question in the States from former Chief Minister Kristina Moore, who asked asked if there had been any communication with Blue Islands regarding its performance under the loan agreement. The loan was taken out in 2020 to help the airline recover from the impact of Covid-19.
Deputy Millar said that since the loan was granted a representative from the Treasury and Ports of Jersey chief executive Matt Thomas had attended all Blue Islands board meetings as observers, which she said provided them with access to all board papers and reports, “enabling close monitoring”.
She added: “As Treasury Minister, my primary interest in this matter is to ensure that the loan extended to Blue Islands during the Covid pandemic is repaid in full.”
Deputy Millar repeatedly declined to comment on specifics of the loan when quizzed by States Members due to its “commercially sensitive” nature.
Asked by Deputy Moore whether she thought the airline’s performance was “acceptable” under the terms of the loan agreement, Deputy Millar responded: “Yes, in light of discussions we have had with Blue Islands over that time, yes it is.”
Deputy Jonathan Renouf said: “Blue Islands seem to be struggling a bit at the moment with running its service – is the minister concerned that the loan might become a bad loan?”
Deputy Millar again repeated that the loan was “commercially sensitive”.
Asked whether she would give further loans or grants to Blue Islands in order to sustain the service in future, Deputy Millar responded that this depended “very much on the circumstances”, adding: “I don’t think we’ve been approached for further loans.”
The minister said she was “happy” to share information with Scrutiny panels shortly.
Deputy Tom Coles pressed Health Minsiter Tom Binet about the impact that disruption was having on Islanders travelling to the UK for medical treatment.
Deputy Binet said the government’s health care travel team was in “daily” contact with Blue Islands, which he said operated an average of 15 return flights a day for patients, the majority to Southampton.
The minister said he was “comfortable” that the airline “fully understood” its obligation to patients, adding that alternative flights were provided to “minimise disruption to the greatest extent possible”.
