Blue Islands Cease Isle of Man Route

From February 2013, the Bournemouth and Isle of Man services from Blue Islands will cease operation. Both destinations have more efficient travel options on the Blue Islands network.

Both services have seen a decline in numbers, particularly the Isle of Man service. Both routes operated three times a week, and better travel options are now available via Southampton and London City. Bournemouth is well served by the more frequent Southampton service and the Isle of Man has excellent connections through London City. These alternative travel options have daily frequency rather than the current thrice weekly.

Rob Veron, managing director, explains the decision.

“In the last four years, we have seen a 72% decrease in passenger numbers on the Isle of Man service, which is untenable for the business. A number of key business accounts have ceased travel to the island which has impacted significantly. The Isle of Man is not a strong leisure destination and as such the passenger numbers have been declining consistently. With such great daily connections through London City to Isle of Man, there was little point competing with ourselves.”

The growth of the more frequent Southampton service has seen more passengers using this service.

Mr Veron continues “Bournemouth is only 40 minutes away from Southampton airport our direct services to Southampton have far more frequency with six flights every week day and that is clearly the preference of our passengers.

We previously ceased our service to Bournemouth when we were granted a Guernsey – Southampton license, a market of 140,000 passengers compared with 6,000 in Bournemouth. Last year we had some capacity on our Jetstream aircraft and were able to re-introduce this niche service to establish whether or not a discreet demand existed. However we have only seen 20% of the previous passenger numbers. Since 2007 the Southampton market has grown by 14%, showing that passengers on the South coast have voted with their feet.”

“It goes without saying that Blue Islands are committed to the Channel Islands and pride ourselves on offering ten direct destinations from Jersey, with excellent connections to Guernsey on all destinations. We must concentrate on creating and growing sustainable services.”

Flights will operate on both routes until February 2013 and bookings can be made for travel until then. Booking can no longer be made for travel after February 2013. No Blue Islands staff are affected by this change. The last Isle of Man flight will be Friday 1St February and last Bournemouth flight will be Saturday 2nd February 2013.

Any passengers who have booked on the services to travel after February 2013, will be given the option of a full refund or to book on either the Southampton or the London City service.