According to court documents, Blue Islands (SI, Jersey) was indeed put up for sale in 2019 despite the airline asserting that this was not the case and issuing media statements to the contrary.

In a hearing taking place at London's Commercial Circuit Court, case documents filed by Swiss financial adviser Barons Capital Partners SA, and published in the Bailiwick Express newspaper, revealed that it had been engaged by the airline in March last year to help explore options “for the sale of all [the airline’s] outstanding shares or any other transaction having substantially the same objective."

In the court case the Swiss company is seeking a GBP150,000 pound (USD198,020) "breakaway fee" it says it is owed by Blue Islands, or for the sales process to begin again. Barons feels that its contract with the carrier is null and void following a media statement by Tim Coates - son of the airline's founder and chairman Derek Coates - in July last year that claimed that it was "business as usual" at Blue Islands. This statement was subsequently taken further in September 2019 when Tim Coates told the Bailiwick Express that rather than Blue Islands being sold, the carrier was continuing to "invest in the next exciting phase of the airline's expansion."

The documents submitted to the court by the Swiss company then go on to state the airline had broken its agreement not to issue media statements that would "undermine" the sale process, as well as breaching its obligations of "good faith". Barons goes on to allege that just weeks later the airline contacted it in order to ask for a "12-month hiatus to the sales process." It now believes that both acts by Blue Islands effectively terminated its agreement with the airline, triggering the breakaway fee.

According to the court documents, Tim Coates later admitted the press release was an error in a call with Barons. A note of that conversation, was effectively an admission of the airline's alleged contractual breaches said the Swiss company.

It was also revealed in the court documents that Blue Islands had engaged in discussions with Aurigny Air Services (GR, Guernsey) and Stobart Air (Dublin International) over the airline's sale, but that Barons had not been invited to those meetings or made aware of the outcome.

When contacted about the Barons' allegations by the newspaper, the airline spokesperson said: “Any dispute has been settled.” However, they did not confirm how the matter had been resolved.

According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Blue Islands operates a single ATR42-300, as well as four ATR72-500s under a franchise agreement with flybe. (2002) (Exeter). It offers services from its bases in Jersey and Guernsey to Bristol International, London City, Nottingham East Midlands, London Southend, Liverpool, Newquay, and Southampton.