Air passenger numbers soar to 17-year high

Wednesday 10 January 2018

Just over 1.6 million passengers travelled through Jersey Airport in 2017, the highest number since 2000 when 1,635,584 passengers were recorded.

While the majority of UK regions saw increases in passenger numbers, inter-island passengers were down by 13,000 passengers fewer than in 2016.

Scotland saw the biggest increase with 23%, followed by the Midlands with 7% and the north-west with 5%. By comparison, the London market only grew by 2%.

Low-cost carrier easyJet, which will be operating eight routes from the Island after recently adding Edinburgh this summer, finished the year with the largest overall market share of 37% after carrying almost 600,000 passengers in 2017. They were followed by British Airways with 23%, Flybe with 22% and Blue Islands with 15%.

In total, 1,616,044 commercial air passengers travelled through the Airport last year, 25,253 more than 2016 and 83,000 more than 2015. Overall sea passenger numbers for 2017 have yet to be finalised. However, it is likely that numbers will be down compared to 2016. They were already down by 14% in 2016. 

Pictured: EasyJet carried almost 600,000 passengers in 2017, over a third of the overall total.

Myra Shacklady, Key Account and Marketing Director for Ports of Jersey, commented on the results: “For the past four years our air passenger numbers have been steadily growing and it’s a great boost for the Island to start the New Year on a positive note. In fact, since 2013 we have increased air passenger numbers by over 186,000.

"For an island the size of Jersey with its resident population of 100,000 we believe we have an enviable network of air services available to us and as always, Ports of Jersey will continue to explore new opportunities while maintaining the excellent relationships we already have with our existing carriers."