AN Islander booked to travel to her native Ireland this Christmas has expressed how “absolutely deflated” her community feel to have lost their direct connections with the Blue Islands collapse.
Roisin Slattery was booked on a Blue Islands flight from Jersey to Dublin on 23 December but since finding out that her flights had all been cancelled with Blue Islands’ stopping operations, she has now had to frantically book another journey to get to her family in time for Christmas Day.
While it would have cost more, Ms Slattery said having a direct connection to Ireland “provided a great service” for Irish people living in Jersey.
She is now booked to take two flights with a stop-over in Liverpool on Christmas Eve. Leaving early in the morning, she said the journey is expected to take over twenty-four hours.
Since announcing their takeover, LoganAir have taken over four Blue Islands routes from Jersey so far: Guernsey, Exeter, Bristol, Southampton.
Six other destinations that were running over the winter season have not yet been picked up by the Scottish airline while they work on creating a permanent base in Jersey: Norwich, Newcastle, East Midlands, Dublin, Paris and Leeds.
“It is not ideal,” Ms Slattery told the JEP. “We [the Irish community] are all absolutely devastated we have lost that direct link to Dublin.”
She added that before they ceased operating, she had also been looking forward to travelling with presents for her relatives using the 23kg baggage allowance with Blue Islands – something she now will not be able to benefit from.
Ms Slattery also had flights booked to Dublin around Easter, which she will also have to re-book in due course. The route she travels will be dependent on if LoganAir can re-establish Blue Islands’ direct service from Jersey in time.
