Airport deals with busiest day for 14 years as Island Games athletes bid farewell

The last time the Airport saw such a level of passengers – 75 per cent busier than a usual Saturday – was on 11 August 2001, when 7,438 people left the Island, many of them tourists returning home after the Battle of Flowers.

Queues were inevitable but did not last too long, with the Ports of Jersey providing free ice creams to departing teams as they waited to check in. There were virtually no flight delays, despite an additional 14 charter planes being hired to transport passengers home.

Ports of Jersey spokesman Alan Donald said: ‘It went very smoothly – the eyes of the world were on us and everyone did a great job making sure it went well.

‘We have been planning for this for months and wanted to give our guests a good lasting impression of the Island, following an amazing week of sport.’

Nearly 7,500 people left the Island via the Airport on SundayGames Makers Sarah Thorogood and Clare Germain were on hand to help

Extra staff were brought in to help out at the Airport and the Harbour, including ground handlers, security agents and customer relations hosts, who were all supported by the voluntary Waitrose Games Makers.

Additional security lanes, a post-security lounge for departing competitors and a designated area for buses to drop participants off were also among measures to ease the pressure at the Airport. And airline easyJet opened up its bag-drop desk three hours before departing flights to allow extra time for passengers to get through.

Members of the Western Isles team on Saturday said that they had enjoyed their week and hoped to come back again. Golfer Kevin Macrae (32) said: ‘The weather was nice and it wasn’t as expensive as I thought it would be here.’ One of his team-mates, footballer Alisdair Gillies (23), said he found Jersey very friendly and could not believe how hot it was.

Fellow player Stewart Munro (23), who was voted player of the tournament by spectators, said: ‘It’s a shame we didn’t have more time to look around the Island. The whole team would love to come back here again.’

The Harbour also had a very busy Saturday with more than 650 participants returning to Guernsey and the UK on the morning ferry.

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