Jersey European Airways
23rd In A Series: A Fictional Airline of the Bailiwick of Jersey (Channel Islands)
Jersey European Airlines, also known by its acronym JEA, is a Channel Islands-based airline headquartered and based on the grounds of Jersey Airport (JER) in St Peter, near St Helier, Jersey. (Jersey is a self-governing British Crown Dependency located near the coast of Normandy, France.)
Founded in 1946, Jersey European operates scheduled flights primarily from its base at Jersey-JER. Direct flights to Southampton-SOU and select London area airports are also operated from the nearby Channel Islands airports at Guernsey-GCI and Alderney-ACI. The company also offers seasonal charter flights to a selection of leisure destinations around Europe during targeted periods.
History
1946-1980
Jersey European Airways was founded at Jersey Airport (JER) on 5 February 1946 by William Bisson (1915-2004), a descendant of the Bisson family, owners of the world-famous Carteret Cognac distillery established at St Helier back in 1769. Carteret is one of the so-called Big Five cognac houses, and the only one not based in France.
Mr Bisson, a Jersey native and a decorated fighter ace during World War II, acquired two war-surplus Douglas DC-3 and began operations from Jersey-JER on 7 May 1946, providing passenger and cargo flights between Jersey-JER «» Paris-ORY, JER «» London-LHR and JER «» Southampton-SOU. The DC-3s also began frequent direct flights between JER «» Guernsey-GCI and JER «» Alderney-ACI that same year.
In 1950, Mr Bisson added a pair of Vickers Viscount turboprop airliners to the fleet, which replaced the DC-3s on the Jersey-JER «» London-LHR and JER «» Paris-CDG routes, respectively. Meanwhile further DC-3s were used to expand service to several British “mainland” destinations over time, including Birmingham-BHX, Manchester-MAN and Liverpool-LPL. As demand increased, a further Viscount would be added to the fleet while the DC-3s would be applied to new routes to smaller British cities.
Jersey European retained this combination of DC-3s and Viscounts for the next 16 years.
During September 1966, Jersey European introduced a set of 3 Britten-Norman BN-2B Islander utility aircraft. The Islanders began flying daily passenger service as well as frequent freighter service to Guernsey-GCI and Alderney-ACI, along with the addition of 3X weekly direct service to Brest-BES and Rennes-RNS. Jersey European Airways had recently been designated as the national carrier for the Bailiwick of Jersey, so Mr Bisson also used the occasion to update the company’s livery by adding the JEA acronym to the tail of the aircraft, and placing the coat of arms for the Bailiwick of Jersey near the front of the aircraft’s fuselage.
The Islander aircraft would remain a key player in Jersey European’s Interisland Air Service for the next 25 years, while the 2nd generation livery became the company standard until 2002.
1980: Henry Bisson Becomes 2nd CEO
In March 1980, Mr William Bisson handed off day to day management of Jersey European Airways to one of his sons, Henry Bisson (1943-2023) in order to take over full control of the family’s flagship company, Carteret Cognac House, following the recent death of his older brother Charles.
Henry Bisson was well known as the bass guitarist and singer for the 1960s British rock band Beat Squadron (1964-1971), who made the charts several times in the UK but are best remembered internationally for having two major worldwide hits, Say Hello (1965) and The Color of Now (1967). After the band broke up in 1971 Henry, who was already a licensed pilot, began flying for Jersey European fulltime.
In 1981, the younger Mr Bisson acquired the first of a set of several Fokker F27 Friendship turboprops. The first F27 began servicing the Jersey-JER «» Guernsey-GCI route that year.
By 1983 the Fokker F27 aircraft had replaced all but one remaining DC-3. This last DC-3, nicknamed Ox, was actually the first DC-3 the company purchased back in 1947. It was converted into a dedicated freighter - Douglas DC-3B(CF) - and remained active with the Jersey European fleet until 2002.
After briefly considering the possibility of acquiring regional jets, in 1987 Jersey European instead took delivery of the first of several 50-passenger Fokker 50 turboprops. They were deployed on the airline’s busy Jersey-JER «» Paris-CDG and JER «» London routes, and by 1988 they replaced JEA’s venerable Vickers Viscounts, all of which were retired in December that same year.
The following year, in 1988, Henry Bisson also acquired a pair of Dornier 228 STOL turboprop aircraft, which were used to replace the Britten-Norman Islanders on the company’s interisland routes to/from Guernsey-GCI and Aldereney-ACI.
A pair of remaining Islanders were retained as package freighters for a few more years until they were removed from the fleet in 1992.
In 1997, Jersey European leased a few more Dornier 228s and used them to retire its outstanding Fokker F27 Friendship aircraft, which were subsequently sold off to an airline in Latin America.
2000: George Bisson Becomes 3rd CEO
Jersey European Airways began the 21st century with a change of leadership.
In 2000 Henry Bisson, age 57, left the airline to take over Carteret Cognac House, the Bisson family’s flagship company, replacing his 85 year old father, William Bisson, who was forced to retire due to old age.
Henry Bisson’s only son, George Bisson (b 1965), joined Jersey European in 1986 as a pilot flying Fokker 50s and F27s as 1st officer. After qualifying to fly the Dornier 228 and eventually gaining his Captain’s rank, in 1998 George was brought into the head office by his father to help run the carrier as its Chief Operating Officer (COO). In 2000 George became CEO while Henry replaced George’s grandfather, William Bisson, as the company’s Chairman of the Board.
Updating The Fleet
Not long after taking over as CEO, George Bisson decided it was time to overhaul and modernize the JEA fleet.
His goals were:
To keep the number of types in the fleet to a minimum;
To include at least one jetliner option to better compete with some larger British carriers that were beginning to enter the local Jersey-JER market;
To stick with aircraft brands that were on a solid financial footing and not at risk of going under any time soon; and
Wherever it was practical to do so, to prefer European made aircraft, especially British aircraft.
Next, Mr Bisson identified 3 specific types of aircraft that would need be acquired:
A 19 passenger STOL class prop aircraft to service Alderney-ACI, whose longest runway was only 2800 ft / 853 m long;
A 40+ passenger turboprop aircraft to service Guernsey-GCI, which had a 4800 ft / 1463 m runway, which could also operate short and thin routes to destinations like Newquay-NQY and Brest-BES; and
As mentioned, a regional jet that could comfortably seat 80+ passengers, have a range of at least 1200 nm so it could be used to fly on longer distance charter routes, and be as economical to fly as possible.
With these points in mind, the company began to search for new generation aircraft that would fit the bill.
The search for a new 19 pax aircraft proved particularly difficult. Many other candidates were unable to safely use Alderney-ACI’s short runway, or had to carry fewer passengers to do it. One standout candidate in the category was the Let L-410 Turbolet, a Czech-made 19 passenger turboprop that had excellent characteristics but had not yet been certified by British or French aviation authorities. Another good candidate was the CASA C-212 Aviocar, which did have the necessary certifications. Otherwise, it seemed that the best quality 19-seat utility aircraft types were now either out of production or not suitable for the task.
There were better results in the 40+ pax aircraft category, which included candidates like the French and Italian made ATR 42 and ATR 72, the Canadian made de Havilland/Bombardier Dash 8s, and Spain’s CASA CN-235 - all of which seemed quite viable.
In the regional jet category there were several good candidates to consider, but most of them were made outside Europe. Choices included the British-made Avro RJ85, the American-made Boeing 717, the Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ jets, and Brazil’s recently introduced ERJ jets.
After considerable research and deliberations, Mr Bisson ultimately settled on 3 new aircraft types:
The Avro RJ85 jetliner to operate higher demand routes to London, Paris, Manchester, etc.;
The ATR 42 and ATR 72 to replace the company’s Fokker 50s; and
Retain one or two of the company’s existing Dornier 228s for now, to handle Alderney-ACI and other STOL routes.
After securing the necessary loans, Mr Bisson ordered the new aircraft and the company set about the complex task of realigning facilities and retraining employees to accommodate the new equipment.
A New Livery for the 21st Century
When Mr Bisson was contemplating how to modernize the Jersey European Airways fleet, his half-sister, Ms Emily Bisson, mentioned that it would also be a good time to consider updating the carrier’s livery. Ms Bisson, a graphic designer and doctoral candidate in the fine arts at a prestigious university in Paris, felt that the current livery, introduced in 1966, was dated and uninspiring. George Bisson agreed to redesigning the livery, but pointed out the planes must include the Jersey saltire (cross) in its design and display the coat of arms for the Bailiwick of Jersey on its fuselage near the cockpit.
Emily Bisson sketched out several possible designs and presented them to her half-brother. They eventually merged two different designs into the new livery, which featured a classic Eurowhite fuselage with a huge, bold crimson-red saltire wrapped around the front or central part of the aircraft depending on the aircraft type. The vertical stabilizer was also painted crimson-red with the words JERSEY EUROPEAN emblazoned diagonally across it so as to be aligned with the leading edge of the tail. At the front of the fuselage, the official coat of arms and crowned crest of Jersey was applied prominently forward of the frontmost passenger window or the front door of the aircraft near the cockpit windows.
The first aircraft to receive the new design was a new Avro RJ85 that arrived at Jersey-JER on 1 February 2002. The livery was very well received by both employees and the public, and both Emily Bisson and Jersey European Airways received several awards for its simple yet fresh new look. The livery, known as the 21st Century Livery to differentiate it from its 20th century predecessors, remains the standard livery in use by JEA to the current day.
2002-2018
2002 proved to be quite a busy year for Jersey European Airways, as the airline received its new Avro RJ85s, ATR 72s and ATR 42s while repainting its existing Dornier 228s in the exciting new 21st century livery. Retraining pilots and cabin crew to operate the new aircraft was not a problem-free experience, but for the most part the process went more smoothly than Mr Bisson had expected.
Meanwhile, on the cargo side of things, one of the remaining Dornier 228s was converted into a dedicated freighter, while JEA also took delivery of an ATR 72P2F converted freighter. The company’s oldest aircraft, the 1940s-vintage Douglas DC-3(CF) known as Ox, was finally retired, while the two newer aircraft became mainstays of the air freight industry around the Channel Islands well into the 21st century.
On 15 December 2004 Sir William Bisson, founder of JEA, passed away in his sleep due to old age. Sir William was knighted in 1994 for his generous philanthropic activities as well as for his distinguished service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II. Though he seemed to be healthy enough otherwise, by 2000 his family had to retire Sir William from public life due to the onset of severe dementia, and thereafter was rarely seen in public.
In accordance with his wishes, Sir William Bisson was cremated and his ashes were scattered over Juno Beach in Normandy, France.
During the 2000s, Jersey European gradually expanded its network to include more hub airports in Europe as well as further cities in central and northern Britain. Routes were opened between Jersey-JER «» London-LGW, JER «» London-LCY, JER «» Amsterdam-AMS, JER «» Frankfurt-FRA, JER «» Edinburgh, JER «» Dublin-DUB and more.
In 2006 Jersey European Airways became the launch customer for the Viking DHC-6-400 Twin Otter, the official successor to the widely respected de Havilland DHC-6 turboprop utility airliner, by ordering 5 of the new type, including one dedicated freighter version.
Jersey European took delivery of its first DHC-6-400 on 23 May 2010. By December 2010 the new Twin Otters had replaced the company’s remaining Dornier 228s, which first entered the fleet back in 1988, thus allowing the 228s to be retired and sold off. Around the same time JEA took delivery of its first and only Avro RJ85 QC Combi aircraft, adding the ability to convert the jet into a freighter whenever needed.
2018-Present
In early 2018, George Bisson‘s father, 75 year old Henry Bisson, suddenly retired from his position as CEO of the Carteret Cognac distillery business. Henry Bisson went on to reunite with his former bandmates in the rock band Beat Squadron, who went out on a very successful reunion tour of the USA and Europe later in 2018.
George Bisson took over management of Carteret Cognac House and appointed his own son, Peter Bisson (b 1990) as the 4th and current CEO of Jersey European Airways, while George took over as JEA’s Chairman of the Board.
Peter Bisson had become a private pilot at age 17. After completing his Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) training, Peter received type certification to fly the Avro RJ85, which he had trained on at flight school. He joined Jersey European Airways in 2011 at age 21, becoming a 1st Officer on the carrier’s flagship RJ85 aircraft. Beginning in 2015, Peter’s father George Bisson began having him work in the company C-suite 2-3 days per week to learn how to run the head office. In 2017 Peter Bisson became the company COO (chief operating officer) before assuming the CEO position the following year.
In July 2018, George Bisson joined his son Peter to attend the biennial Farnborough International Airshow held in Farnborough, Hampshire UK. While visiting on the first day, the two men visited the Airbus exhibit and were introduced to the recently rebranded Airbus A220-100 (previously known as the Bombardier CS100), and immediately came away impressed. Two days later Peter Bisson signed a lease agreement with JetStream Aerospace to acquire 4 of the Airbus A220-100s, with options to order more.
The first of the Airbus A220s arrived at Jersey-JER on 23 April 2019; it was assigned to fly a rotation of 3 different airports from JER, flying twice a week to London-LHR, London-LGW, and Paris-CDG respectively. As more A220s arrived, the 3 routes saw more frequent weekly service from the A220 until each route began seeing daily service from the type. The 4th type arrived in December 2019 and was placed on the JER «» Manchester-MAN route. The response from customers and employees to the new A220 jetliner was so positive that Jersey European ordered 4 more of them in late 2019.
Meanwhile, Peter Bisson attended the 2019 Paris Air Show in June 2019, where signed an agreement with the emerging Aria Aircraft Company to lease six of the new Aria V42 VTOL, a 42 passenger, four-engine ducted-fan VTOL turboprop; and six of the new Aria T72 Transonic, a 72 passenger twinjet airliner, with both aircraft including options on further aircraft after launch.
Mr Bisson selected the V42 VTOL to replace both the company’s current Viking DHC-6s and its ATR 42 aircraft, which were currently serving places such as Guernsey-GCI, Alderney-ACI, Rennes-RNS and Brest-BES. The Aria V42 was considered especially important because it would allow Jersey European to finally bring higher capacity to its Guernsey-GCI «» Alderney-ACI and Jersey-JER «» Alderney-ACI routes. Additionally, the V42’s quieter ducted-fan engines and VTOL capabilities might allow the type to even provide direct air service to the island of Sark, which currently has neither an airfield nor a fixed helipad.
Meanwhile, the T72 Transonic was selected primarily to replace the ATR 72 turboprops currently operating to destinations like Guernsey-GCI, Newquay-NQY, Exeter-EXT, and other smaller cities across Britain. But the T72 was also seen as a possible answer to providing jet service along thinner routes currently served by the Avro RJ85. Ultimately, Mr Bisson hoped that by the mid to late 2020s Jersey European Airways would become mostly a jet carrier, with the V42s remaining the sole prop-driven aircraft type, and to also in time remove the RJ85s from the fleet.
The Covid19 pandemic struck the Channel Islands in March 2020. Jersey European Airways temporarily cancelled flights to London-LCY in early March as a safety measure, but by 20 March 2020 all passenger flights were suspended until the end of April. Freight flights continued, but were more limited at first. In early April, the Jersey government and JEA agreed to provide limited continuity of air travel to the UK for passengers whose travel was classified as essential in nature. From mid April 5 flights a week were provided, two to Southampton-SOU and three to London-LGW. Arriving passengers were required to undertake 14 days of self-isolation with select exemptions based on merit.
In late May 2020, the Jersey States Assembly - the legislature for the Bailiwick of Jersey - approved a £10 million loan to Jersey European to ensure the continuity of lifeline links between Jersey and mainland Britain. By early June the States of Guernsey - Guernsey’s own legislature - approved a £5 million loan of its own as well. Throughout the remainder of the pandemic, other airlines would occasionally suspend their flights to Jersey and/or Guernsey for any number of reasons, but Jersey European continued to operate out of Jersey-JER and Guernsey-GCI regardless.
2023: Death of Henry Bisson
On 15 February 2023 Henry Bisson, 2nd CEO of Jersey European Airways and former member of the rock band Beat Squadron, died due to a bizarre accident at his home in St Helier, Jersey. While alone in his bedroom and (ironically) very drunk on Carteret Cognac, Mr Bisson slipped on a rug and fell, cutting his forehead on a bedside table on his way down, and thereafter slowly bled to death. His body was found the next day by a housekeeper.
Mr Bisson’s death was ruled an accident, but authorities believed that Henry Bisson could have easily survived had he been sober enough to call for help. Like his father, Henry Bisson was cremated; his ashes were scattered over the English Channel between Jersey and Guernsey.
Recent Events
On 5 May 2023, almost 5 years after they were initially ordered, Jersey European Airways took delivery of its first Aria V42 VTOL aircraft. With CEO Peter Bisson serving as the 1st Officer for the flight, the V42 arrived to a ceremonial water cannon salute spraying red and white colored water over the aircraft as it pulled up to the terminal. This first V42 entered revenue service on 24 May 2023 when it began flying the Jersey-JER «» Guernsey-GCI route. Additional V42s began to arrive every few weeks thereafter, so that by the end of 2023 the company’s remaining ATR 42s were retired and sold off.
During 2024, further V42s arrived, including a pair of Aria V42qc Combi aircraft. The last Viking DHC-6-400 Twin Otter was retired on 25 March 2024, while the company’s final Avro RJ85 - the RJ85QC Combi to be exact - left the fleet on 25 November 2024.
The Future
Jersey European Airways has been designated as the launch customer for Aria Aircraft’s new Aria T72 Transonic twinjet, which is set to arrive at Jersey-JER in early 2025. The first three T72s will replace the last three ATR 72s still flying for Jersey European. Additional T72s will be used to add more flights between Jersey-JER «» Dublin-DUB, followed by several other cities across northern and central Britain.
A trio of new Airbus A220-100s are also expected to arrive in mid to late 2025, which are expected to be applied mostly to Jersey European’s blossoming charter flight service. New charter destinations currently being considered include Milan-MXP, Montpellier-MPL, and Catania-CTA among others. Summer charter flights to some of the Greek islands and Spain, and winter flights to Scandinavian ski destinations, are also on the boards for review. Most of the charter flights are timed to depart within 1.5 to 2 hours after regularly scheduled flights arrive from larger cities in the UK, in order to offer British and Scottish customers special deals on connecting flights.
Year round service expansion to new cities such as Brussels-BRU, Lyon-LYS, Hamburg-HAM, Nantes-NTE, and Caen-CFR are also being contemplated.
Destinations
Year Round Destinations
Following is a list of destinations that are currently served year round by Jersey European Airways. All destinations are located in the United Kingdom except where otherwise noted.
[ Year Round System Route Map ]
Alderney-ACI - Focus City
Amsterdam-AMS, Netherlands
Brest-BES, France
Bristol-BRS
Birmingham-BHX
Dublin-DUB, Ireland
East Midlands-EMA
Edinburgh-EDI
Exeter-EXT
Frankfurt-FRA, Germany
Glasgow-GLA
Guernsey-GCI
Isle of Man-IOM
Jersey-JER - HQ and Base
Leeds-LBA
Liverpool-LPL
London-LCY
London-LGW
London-LHR
Manchester-MAN
Newcastle upon Tyne-NCL
Newquay-NQY
Norwich-NWI
Paris-CDG, France
Rennes-RNS, France
Southampton-SOU
Seasonal Charter Destinations
Following is a list of charter flight destinations that Jersey European Airways currently serves on a seasonal basis. All such flights operate only from Jersey-JER.
[ Seasonal Charters Route Map ]
Faro-FAO, Portugal
Funchal-FNC, Portugal
Grenoble-GNB, France
Ibiza-IBZ, Spain
Jersey-JER - HQ and Base
Lisbon-LIS, Portugal
Munich-MUC, Germany
Palma de Mallorca-PMI, Spain
Salzburg-SZG, Austria
Tenerife South-TFS, Spain
Tivat-TIV, Montenegro
Fleet
Current Passenger Fleet
Jersey European Airways currently operates the following passenger aircraft.
† = JStream original aircraft
Airbus A220-100 - 2019-Present
ATR 72 - 2002-Present
Aria V42 VTOL - 2023-Present †
Current Cargo Fleet
Jersey European Airways currently operates the following freighter aircraft.
† = JStream original aircraft
ATR 72P2F Freighter - 2002-Present
Aria V42qc VTOL QC Combi - 2023-Present † *
* This type is now operating as a dedicated freighter.
Former Fleet
Jersey European Airways previously operated the following aircraft, listed in chronological order as received.
† = JStream original aircraft
Douglas DC-3 - 1946-1983 pax; 1983-2002 freighter †
Vickers Viscount - 1950-1988 †
Britten Norman BN-2B Islander - 1966-1992 †
Fokker F27 Friendship - 1981-1997 †
Fokker 50 - 1987-2002 †
Dornier 228 - 1988-2010 †
ATR 42 - 2002-2023
Avro RJ85 - 2002-2024
Viking (de Havilland) DHC-6-400 Twin Otter - 2008-2024 †
Future Fleet
Jersey European Airways currently has firm orders to acquire the following aircraft in the near future.
† = JStream original aircraft
Aria T72 Transonic - Expected in 2025 †
=Nota Bene=
Jersey European Airways existed IRL from 1979 to 2000. That carrier renamed itself as British European Airways 2000-2002, then renamed itself 2002-2020 (and again 2022-2023) as Flybe (which wsa styled as flybe). I wanted to write an article about an airline based in the UK’s Channel Islands, and Jersey European was a perfect name for it, so I went ahead and used it for the story.
The brand name Carteret Cognac comes from the Carteret family, which looms large in the history of the Channel Islands, as well as in the early history of the US states of New Jersey and North Carolina. There are no cognac companies that I know of in the Channel Islands. The founder of the oldest French-based cognac distillery was Jean Martell, who was born in Jersey, so you could say the Bissons are sort of a salute to Jean Martell and family I guess.
BTW the Carteret brand name should be pronounced Cah-teh-ray, in the French style, because cognac is supposed to be a sophisticated beverage, right? Nonetheless, I’m sure most Americans and Brits would still sound out the letter T on the end.
The Aria aircraft came into play here mostly because Alderney-ACI has a very short runway and so the Aria V42 seemed a good fit for the Jersey-JER «» Alderney-ACI route. The Aria T72 was added at the last minute to zero out the ATR 72s basically. I saw no reason to zero out the A220s since they are great planes and would be an excellent choice to fly from JER to London-LGW and London-LHR at the least, while the Aria T72 could be used on several other routes around the JEA network.
All liveries depicted in this article were conceived and drawn by the Author.
All Aria aircraft templates displayed in this article are fictional aircraft, whose original templates were drawn by the Author. (See also the complete list of Aria Aircraft templates.)
The following aircraft templates are all original, in-house made content created by the Author: Britten Norman BN-2B Islander, Dornier 228, Douglas DC-3, Fokker F27 Friendship, Fokker 50, Vickers Viscount, and Viking (de Havilland) DHC-6-400 Twin Otter. (See also the complete list of JStream original aircraft templates.)
All other aircraft templates shown in this article are licensed from Norebbo and augmented by the Author for display. Blank side view templates of these aircraft are available for purchase through ShopNorebbo.
Route Maps were created using Great Circle Map.