Airline criticised after cricketers left stranded

A group including 24 children are stuck in Jersey after their Blue Islands flight got cancelled

A group from Guernsey Cricket were left stranded overnight in Jersey after their scheduled Blue Islands flight was cancelled.

The junior team, which includes 24 children, were in Jersey for a one-day inter-insular tournament.

However, on attempting to return to Guernsey on Sunday, the group were told their flight had been cancelled when they arrived at the airport.

Blue Islands apologised to customers and said supply chain issues had created a shortage of aircraft components and parts.

The delay meant team coaches had to arrange emergency overnight accommodation, with the team arriving back in Guernsey on Monday.

Neena Dhaun's son is a member of the under-11 Guernsey Cricket team and missed a day of school due to the delay.

She praised coaches but said the airline had not been giving them "a huge amount of transparent information".

Parents 'frustrated'

She said a representative from the airline should have been at the airport or parents and coaches supplied with a contact number or email in order to get updates from the company.

"I personally think the airlines need to be held more accountable," she said.

"What exactly went wrong? No-one knows.

"Of course, we're frustrated but we know they are in great care."

'Unforeseen technical issues'

Blue Islands said technical issues had caused flight disruption and it apologised for any inconvenience.

"Together with the global aviation community, Blue Islands is experiencing supply chain challenges resulting in a shortage of aircraft component and parts," the airline said.

"Further exacerbating these challenges, an aircraft sustained a lightning strike departing East Midlands last week, which is undergoing investigation and repair in order to return the aircraft to service.

"Operational resilience was further impacted by two unforeseen technical issues at the weekend which disrupted flights including Sunday evening's flight from Jersey to Guernsey."