ISLANDERS have waved goodbye to the last of the Blue Islands planes that were being held at Jersey Airport following the airline’s collapse last month.
The ATR-72 was spotted departing on Saturday afternoon, just a few days after Ports of Jersey confirmed it was in “confidential commercial negotiations” with the aircraft’s owner.
It was once part of Blue Islands’ fleet of five leased turboprop planes, before the airline announced that – after 26 years of serving the Channel Islands – it had decided to cease trading and enter liquidation in November.
Shortly after, Ports of Jersey chief executive Matt Thomas confirmed that three of the aircraft were on the ‘pier’ at Jersey Airport, explaining that the lessors “will be liaising with the liquidators to get their planes back”.
At the time, Mr Thomas stated that this was not posing any operational issues and that he expected the process to conclude “sooner rather than later”.
In an update last week, Treasury Minister Elaine Millar confirmed that two of the planes had since left, while Ports continued “confidential commercial negotiations to agree a settlement with the owner on the sums outstanding” in respect of the remaining aircraft.
A Ports spokesperson yesterday confirmed that “all Blue Islands planes have now left Jersey Airport”.
