BLUE Islands has still only paid back 17% of £8.5 million taxpayer-funded loan – despite now being almost 60% of the way through the repayment period.
The airline was given the loan in July 2020, and the final repayment date is on 31 December 2028.
Last year, it emerged that Blue Islands had repaid £1,425,653 of the capital sum as of 30 September 2024.
But a recent freedom-of-information request revealed, as of 31 May 2025, that amount remains unchanged.
That means just 17% of the total loan has been repaid – despite 59% of the repayment period having passed.
It is understood that capital repayments and interest are made quarterly in accordance with the terms of the loan, but the latest figures show that Blue Islands hasn’t repaid a single penny of the loan in the last two quarters.
In order to repay the loan in full by the end of 2028, the airline will have to fork out over £500,000 in each of the 14 quarters left until the repayment date.
The JEP has contacted the government for comment on whether it considers Blue Islands to be in breach of the loan agreement, and if any actions are being considered in light of this.
It comes just one week after the Economic Development Minister said the government had made Blue Islands “very aware” of concerns regarding their service in recent months following multiple delays and cancellations.
Deputy Kirsten Morel said the issues had been caused by the airline’s limited fleet and “dramatic changes” to global supply chains leading to delays in getting replacement parts.
But the Minister said that introducing a compensation scheme for airline passengers without analysis would be “irresponsible” and could increase ticket prices or cause smaller carriers to go out of business.
Deputy Morel was responding to renewed calls for the government to close what the Jersey Consumer Council described as a “glaring gap” in protection for Channel Islands air passengers in the wake of the flight disruption.
Outbound flights operated by Channel-Islands-based carriers are currently not covered by compensation laws EU261 or UK261.
Blue Islands has been contacted for comment.
