In the late hours of November 14, the approximately 100 staff who worked for regional British airline Blue Islands received just 10 minutes notice before a public announcement that the carrier serving Channel Islands like Jersey and Guernsey would shut down operations.

The total collapse of the airline also left hundreds of travelers in remote parts of Great Britain having to seek alternative transportation. Representatives told them to not go to the airport and seek refunds from their credit card provider or bank, as the airline would not be able to provide them.

“All future flights operated by Blue Islands have been cancelled,” the Blue Islands statement reads. “Therefore, please do not go to the airport as flights will not be operating and customers are urged to make alternative travel arrangements.”

Loganair, Aurigny selling rescue fares for stranded Blue Islands travelers

With local reports indicating that at least 1,200 passengers are immediately stranded and more than 12,000 others have future bookings that are now null, chaos continues to reverberate around the airline, which flew to a remote and underserved region.

Loganair, a fellow regional carrier headquartered in Glasgow Airport (GLA), became the first carrier to step in with an offer of rescue fares. Main Channel Islands competitor Aurigny followed by quickly launching special flights between Jersey, Guernsey, and the mainland British city of Southampton into December.

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“We are acutely aware of the importance of the Southampton route to our community, particularly around travel for off-island medical appointments,” Deputy Mark Helyar, president of the local States’ Trading Supervisory Board, said to the BBC in a statement adding that the board has “been in close contact with Aurigny on this.”

The airline itself released a statement saying that it was “deeply saddened” by the competitor’s collapse and was taking “immediate action to assist Blue Islands customers across the Channel Islands.”

Blue Islands was the main airline serving the Channel Islands.

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“This will be a worrying time for those hoping to travel to and from Jersey [island]”

As the larger airline with more capacity to run special routes, Loganair has also launched special rescue flights from Guernsey into Jersey and Exeter, Bristol, and Southampton as well as Guernsey to Southampton up until Nov. 20.

Anyone who can show a flight on Blue Islands will be able to book a flight on these routes for £80 ($105 USD) in each direction.

“We understand this will be a worrying time for those hoping to travel to and from Jersey and in response, we’re starting operations from Sunday 16 November,” Loganair currently states on its website.

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Some of the rescue flights on Loganair and Aurigny will run at different points of the week until December 17 as local aviation authorities work on a more permanent solution for the islands that are only accessible from the mainland United Kingdom by flight or ferry.

A similar situation of competitors offering rescue fares took place when fellow British regional airline Eastern Airways shut down last October. Dublin-based Ryanair offered rescue fares on its flight between London and Cornwall, while Loganair launched additional flights between Aberdeen and Kirkwall and Sumburgh off the coast of Scotland.

Based out of Humbleside Airport (HUY) in East Midlands, Eastern also served many smaller destinations and critical British oil and gas hubs not flown to by other airlines.

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