Hub Europe Express launches Jersey mail plane service

Postal flights from Jersey were shelved last month

A new air mail operation has been launched in Jersey by a private firm following the demise of a next-day service to the UK.

Royal Mail and Jersey Post shelved their flight provision to Jersey last month, with mail transported by ferry since.

Hub Europe Express, run by Christopher Bee whose firm loaded the mail airplanes for 30 years, has stepped up.

They are currently operating e-commerce deliveries.

Chris Bee said they had begun by offering next-day deliveries to e-commerce firms

But he said they planned to roll out a next-day air mail service, dubbed "Mail Fast", to the public.

"I do feel we are in a position to solve the problem for the people of Jersey and the island in general, I think the service needs to exist and we are in a place to do it," he said.

Mr Bee said they currently collected twice a day from customers, with freight then flown to Southampton via commercial airline Blue Islands, four times a day, with next day delivery to the UK.

But he said they would look to operate their own aircraft longer term.

On the decision to scrap the flights run by Royal Mail and Jersey Post, which the firms said were "commercially unviable", Mr Bee added: "I think with a multibillion-pound finance industry based on the island it is ridiculous that businesses cannot get a letter to London the next day."

Artist Rick Jones said he was struggling with delayed deliveries

He said it also placed Jersey at a disadvantage compared to its competitors, including Guernsey which had retained a mail plane.

Benjamin Martin, owner of skincare company Jersey Skin, said the loss of the mail plane had led to waits for deliveries of up to three weeks.

"I just don't think the island was ready to have that sort of service cancelled," he said.

Rick Jones, the artist behind homeware firm Jones of Jersey, said the company had "a lot of angry customers" as a result of delayed deliveries.

He added: "If somebody with an entrepreneurial spirit could come in and take the reins on this they would be doing the whole island a service."

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