UK passenger movements drop to lowest level in six months

While people can freely travel to the UK, since 14 January anyone coming into the Bailiwick needs to have a permit granted by Public Health, showing that their travel is essential. This can include travel for health care, education, legal proceedings or compassionate reasons.

There were 1,811 movements through Guernsey Airport during January. This includes people flying out as well as returning.

The figures are not broken down by which direction people are travelling or how many travelled after the new permit system was introduced, although the States has previously said traveller numbers were now very low.

Southampton’s lifeline route continues to be the busiest, with 1,273 people. This was the lowest traveller numbers since last May. University flights were put on, with 369 people travelling to and from Gatwick and 102 via Manchester. There were also a small number of charter flights to various airports.

The numbers include people who travelled out of the island to spend Christmas in the UK and did not return until the new year. More than 3,000 people travelled to and from the UK during December.

The January UK traveller figure is the lowest since last June, when 1,650 passenger movements were recorded.

All travellers from the UK must isolate for at least 14 days, unless they have an exemption.

In the Bailiwick, no travellers flew between Guernsey and Jersey. There are currently no scheduled services and from mid-January Jersey required all travellers from Guernsey to isolate on arrival.

There were 1,530 people travelling between Guernsey and Alderney – a large drop compared with December, when 2,399 passenger movements were made.

Alderney’s first – and so far only – identified case of Covid-19 was found in early February. Those travelling to Alderney from Guernsey need to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival.