Blue Islands is increasing the number of flights it operates between Guernsey and Southampton to up to eight per day. This move is responding to demand, as more consumers are choosing Southampton as their route to central London.

This fourth return flight brings 40,000 more seats to the market and follows significant investment in December last year when the airline launched its first 66-seat ATR 72 aircraft, dedicated to its Guernsey to Southampton service, providing a 250% increase in capacity.

Rob Veron, Blue Islands Managing Director said

We are locally owned and 100% committed to our island, therefore we are thrilled to be able to launch an extra flight on our Guernsey to Southampton service. In December 2013 not only did we launch our enhanced Guernsey to Southampton service on our new 66-seat aircraft, with crew and aircraft based here, we also used the opportunity to revise our schedule to include an early 07:15 'red-eye' departure.

Throughout 2014, we've welcomed more and more passengers on-board as islanders are increasingly choosing Southampton as their route to the UK, for both the south coast and for a cost-effective and hassle-free connection to central London with our special train fares.

The extra Blue Islands flights come as the preference to fly to Southampton grows, while passenger numbers for Gatwick continue to decline. In May, 5,104 fewer passengers used services between Guernsey and Gatwick, a drop of 16% from May 2013, whereas Southampton services enjoyed a 44% year on year increase with 5,276 extra passengers.

Mr Veron continued

With more seats, more choice, more convenience, more flexibility and clear and transparent fares with our 'Welcome Difference' service from £25, this is great for islanders and visitors alike. In fact, we're seeing huge numbers of our passengers start journeys in Southampton which is encouraging for tourism and those serving hospitality related industries, as more people experience our beautiful island.

As always with Blue Islands, any passengers who have already booked and wish to change their flight to make use of this new time may of course do so for free online, in accordance with our standard terms and conditions.

Flights are available to book now from £25, and start from 1 October 2014.