Inter-island air bridge "inappropriate"

Friday 14 August 2020

Guernsey's Chief Minister has thrown out suggestions of an inter-island air bridge, saying the idea will remain off the cards as long as new covid cases keep being identified in Jersey.

"We're not even considering opening to Jersey at this stage," Deputy Gavin St Pier said during an interview with Isle of Man TV, whilst on his recent isolation-free holiday.

"They have adopted a different strategy on this and I'm not critical on that - I think every jurisdiction has to make their own judgements on what they believe is right for their community."

The two islands have taken vastly different approaches to the pandemic.

Jersey has chosen to open its borders alongside a testing regime that allows arrivals from countries marked as 'green' under its traffic light travel classification system to avoid isolation on receipt of a negative result.

Meanwhile, the only other jurisdiction people in Guernsey can travel to without need for compulsory quarantine on return is the Isle of Man.

Guernsey's approach has seen the island remain covid-free for many months, while Jersey currently has 11 cases - the majority of which were detected through the arrivals screening process.

Pictured: The only jurisdiction Guernsey people can travel to without isolating upon their return is the Isle of Man.

"[Jersey's government] have made the judgements that they believe are right for them, but it wouldn't be compatible with the strategy we've adopted and so, for that reason, it would not be appropriate for us to have an air bridge with them yet," Deputy St. Pier added.