Loganair, Aurigny and Blue Islands to align their frequent flyer programmes

Three of the UK’s regional airlines – Aurigny, Blue Islands and Loganair – have announced plans to work more closely together, including aligning their existing loyalty schemes.

Aurigny and Blue Islands are based in the Channel Islands – Guernsey and Jersey respectively – whilst Loganair is based in Glasgow.

This move is not a merger, but it will involve co-operation both in front of and behind the scenes, including working together to get better deals on key purchases.

Whilst individually relatively small, the three airlines operate 54 aircraft between them. They serve a total of 40 airports throughout the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man.

ATR turboprop aircraft provide the backbone of the fleet for all three. The plan is to work together to get scale economies on major maintenance checks, aircraft spares and pilot and engineer training, as well as fuel and ground handling services.

The key benefit for passengers will be the ability to book through-tickets covering multiple airlines in the partnership. This would allow you to fly seamlessly, with one connection, on routes such as Aberdeen to Guernsey or from the Isle of Man to the Channel Islands.

Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham and Southampton should see increased traffic. These are key airports used by two or three of the partners and where passengers will now be able to connect.

What about frequent flyer benefits?

There are no plans at the moment to offer a joint frequent flyer scheme across the three airlines.

What will happen is alignment between Clan Loganair, Aurigny’s FrequentFlyer and Blue Islands’ Blue Skies Club.

Members will soon be able to earn and redeem points across services from all three airlines.

You can read more on the Blue Islands website here and we will keep you updated with frequent flyer news as we get it.

PS. Fly to Barra with Loganair for just £85 day return this Winter

Regular readers will remember that we recently repeated the review of my day trip to the tiny island of Barra, flying with Loganair.

It is a unique experience, with the aircraft landing on the beach and the flight times changing daily to match the tides.

Loganair usually runs day trips during the Summer season, but this year has also chosen to run them during the Winter. The fare is £85 return from Glasgow.

You can book until 28th March 2022 at this price, with a blackout between 17th December and 9th January. Full details are on the Loganair website here.

Thanks to Colin for flagging this.