system. Immediately following Flybe's demise, Blue Islands announced it would begin flying to Birmingham and Exeter from Jersey, two former Flybe routes. However, shortly after these routes initially commenced, the airline was forced to ground all aircraft following Guernsey and Jersey, as well as the United Kingdom, entering lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the suspension of service, the Government of Jersey announced it would subsidize the airline to operate 'essential flights' from Jersey to Southampton, and later to London Gatwick, in order to transport key workers and medical patients requiring off-island care. In June 2020, the Government of Jersey announced it would provide a £10 million loan to the airline in order to facilitiate the return of its regularly scheduled operations. Following this, the company agreed to a 10-year contract with Jersey Airport to maintain its Jersey aircraft and crew base. In August, Blue Islands officially announced it would relaunch operations, alongside the unveiling of a new livery. As part of the relaunch, airline resumed service from Jersey to Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Exeter, Guernsey and Southampton, as well as from Guernsey to Southampton. Jersey to London City service, which was operated before the pandemic, would not resume. The airline also announced intentions to expand its fleet and take over additional routes that were lost following Flybe's closure. Shortly after, Blue Islands announced it would open a base in Exeter, marking the first time the airline would base aircraft outside of the Channel Islands, and launch twice-daily weekday flights between Exeter and Manchester. It was then announced that the company would open a base in Southampton, and launch flights from Southampton to Dublin and Manchester. The latter routes were to be in direct competition with Eastern Airways, who had also announced intentions to open a Southampton base following Flybe's collapse. Both bases were planned to open in September 2020, however this was pushed back into 2021 and eventually 2022, until in February 2022 the plans for both bases were officially scrapped. In September 2020, Blue Islands commenced a codeshare agreement with Scottish regional airline Loganair, enabling passengers travelling on Blue Islands' Southampton network to connect onto Aberdeen (via Manchester), Edinburgh, Inverness (via Manchester), Glasgow and Newcastle, as well as from Exeter to Aberdeen and Inverness (both via Manchester). The deal would also allow Loganair to feed passengers onto Blue Islands flights to the Channel Islands from several UK