Going Dutch!

Tuesday 13 January 2015

Direct flights from Jersey to Rotterdam and Amsterdam are likely to be back this year, according to the Airport boss.

Doug Bannister, the chief executive of the Ports of Jersey, said that he expects developments this year, after last year saw a 3% rise in the number of passengers coming through the ports.

And he added that new continental flights – which could replace some of the direct flights lost by the decision by Blue Islands to run European flights through London City instead of direct from Jersey – could be coming.

He said: “We can reflect on a decent year in terms of passengers through both the ports, they were up about 3%. A lot of that was driven by Condor through the maritime links, and also on the air links with our London market, which is our biggest market.

“In terms of outlook for this year we have a good range of connections and the summer season is looking good. We have increasing German connection and we have CI Travel expanding their coverage.

“We are alert to the Blue Islands changes – they are changing their continental routes and transferring that product to a codeshare system with CityJet through London City, and we want to work with them to make sure that’s as attractive to them as it can be.

“We are also looking at expanding more direct continental coverage, and that could include Rotterdam and Amsterdam, and there’s a Zurich charter service coming in the summer. We are doing what we can to boost direct connections while also making certain that the products that we do have are going to be beneficial.”