Flybe collapse: Jersey Reds travel plans hit after airline goes into administration

Jersey were planning to use Flybe for two of their final four away games this season

Jersey Reds chairman Mark Morgan says the collapse of Flybe will affect the Championship club and other sports teams on the Channel Islands.

Flybe went into administration on Thursday and serves a number of routes from Jersey to the UK mainland.

The Reds were due to use Flybe for their away games against Yorkshire Carnegie and Coventry.

"It is bad news not just for the Reds but for all sporting clubs across the Channel Islands," Morgan said.

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"The less competition there is, the more expensive travel becomes and the fewer options there are, so all-round it's pretty bad news, I think," he said.

Financially the Reds are unlikely to be affected, having only paid deposits with a credit card for their two trips, but alternatives may cost more and involve longer travel once they arrive in England.

"What we don't know at the moment is the impact on teams coming into us, and we have have reached out to those guys," added Morgan.

"I can't remember the last time I got onto a flight to or from Jersey that wasn't rammed full of people, and whilst I can believe that many of the routes that Flybe were running perhaps were not profitable, I suspect the Jersey flights are pretty good and I'm hopeful that other airlines will jump in."

Morgan says the issues with Flybe have affected a potential new signing.

He explained: "We've got a guy we're trying to bring over from Wales and previously that would have been simple; hop across the Severn bridge and fly across from Bristol.

"But that's not an option to us at the moment so we're desperately trying to figure out how we're going to get him here by the weekend to start training for next weekend. So it's a live difficulty already."