Ports get set for Games week

Thursday 25 June 2015

Airport and Harbour staff are gearing up for the busiest week of the year as thousands of athletes and their supporters arrive from all around the world.

The majority will get here tomorrow, the day before the NatWest Island Games kicks off and Jersey's all set to give them a warm welcome.

Waitrose Games makers will be meeting and greeting them at the Terminals, now decked out with bunting, and the Ports of Jersey, Games organisers, transport providers and ground handlers have been working together for months to make sure all the travel arrangements run as smoothly as possible.

Ports of Jersey’s Group Marketing & Communications Manager Alan Donald said: “Like many organisations across the Island, Ports of Jersey is proud to be supporting the NatWest Island Games. It is a very exciting time for everyone, a great opportunity for Jersey to showcase its fantastic community spirit and what better way to demonstrate this than at its two gateways. We have worked closely along with organisers and our business partners to ensure that everyone passing through our terminals specifically for the Games week will be assured of a warm Jersey welcome.”  

The day most of them head home again after a week of competing will be a very busy one at the Airport and with around 7,000 passengers to deal with on Saturday 4 July, there's likely to be long queues. Airport staff are hoping to speed things up with pre-printed boarding cards, designated coach drop-off points and places for athletes to leave their luggage and they'll open up more lanes to get people through security quicker.

Mr Donald said: “Summer Saturdays are always a busy time for Jersey Airport and we have sufficient resources and facilities equipped to deal with this high volume. We are also advising departing air passengers in particular to allow additional time for their journey through Jersey Airport, especially during the peak travel time, which is expected to be between 11am and 3pm.”

The short-stay car park in front of the arrivals terminal will be out of action for the next two Saturdays as will the free 'pit stop' zone next to departures so that all the coaches can park up to pick up all the athletes. Anyone going to do an Airport drop off or pick up will have to use the main car park in front of the departures terminal instead and pay to park.