Channel Island airline gets on-island training approval

Image caption, Blue Islands are the first Channel Island airline to get permission to train crew on island

A Channel Islands airline is the first to be granted permission to train staff in Jersey.

The approval from the European regulator, EASA, means Blue Islands can train their flight and cabin crew to be able to operate and work on their ATR aircraft.

The training will be completed at their operational base in Jersey.

Rob Veron, managing director of Blue Islands said he was delighted with the approval.

He said: "This is a huge achievement for our operational team as we are the only airline in the Channel Islands to have gained this approval.

"This means we no longer have to send away any of our locally based crew, we can be more dynamic with our programmes and further cement our roots here in the islands."

Blue Islands say a typical training programme would include aircraft training on the ATR plane, in the simulator and ground-school training.