BLUE Islands has said its fleet has been restored to “full strength” following operational issues and that a “marked improvement” will be visible in the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s next set of statistics – after being ranked bottom of its UK flight-punctuality list for the second quarter of this year.
The CAA’s latest quarterly report on aviation trends includes a section on flight punctuality, based on UK arrivals and departures data for the top 20 largest airlines by ATM (Air Transport Movements).
Blue Islands was at the bottom of the list, with its percentage of flights on time marked as 55% for the second quarter of 2025.
The airline was also recorded as having the largest proportion of cancellations (see graph above).
Last week, a report about Jersey’s critical infrastructure resilience – focussing on transport links – was published by the Island’s public spending watchdog.
Comptroller and Auditor General Lynn Pamment noted the £8.5 million in loan funding provided by the Government to Blue Islands during the pandemic to help maintain lifeline air connectivity.
“The repayment schedule for this loan was restructured in June 2024 to extend the repayment period to December 2028,” her report continued.
“At 30 June 2025, the outstanding capital balance was £7 million.
“Evidence is lacking to demonstrate adequate monitoring against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) by the Government during the period of the loan outside of the attendance as observers at Blue Islands Board meetings by representatives from Treasury and Exchequer, and Ports of Jersey.”
Ms Pamment also said that Blue Islands’ “small fleet” of five aircraft presented “an inherent risk to resilience”.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Blue Islands said: “We clearly acknowledged back in May that operational issues – industry-wide supply chain issues and late delivery of aircraft – had seriously impacted our on-time performance in Q2.”
“This was widely discussed at the time, including at States Questions.”
The spokesperson continued: “Since that time, we’re heartened to report a marked improvement which will be visible in the next set of CAA figures. For example, in August, of our 863 flights, 74% arrived on time and 99% operated.
“Blue Islands is proud to provide essential year-round regional connectivity for Jersey, and recognises the importance of services to our communities and for our socio-economic wellbeing. “
The statement added that, in 2023, Blue Islands was ranked number one for on-time performance amongst Channel Island and UK airlines.
“With our fleet now restored to full strength, we have the resilience to deliver the high levels of operational performance our customers rightly expect.”
Flight punctuality
According to the CAA, a flight is deemed to be “on-time” if it arrives or departs from the airport gate within 15 minutes of its scheduled time.
Jersey Airport’s overall percentage of flights on time for Q2 2025 was 71%, beating Bournemouth (69%), Manchester (69%) and Birmingham (67%).
