Isle of Man holidaymakers flown home following Guernsey air bridge suspension

Flights between the two islands had been running regularly since 22 July

About 190 people have been flown home to the Isle of Man and Guernsey following the closure of the air bridge between the two islands.

It follows the discovery of a cluster of seven cases of Covid-19 on the channel island last week.

About 120 Manx holidaymakers took a final flight by Aurigny on Saturday afternoon.

All of those returning were issued with notices requiring them to isolate for 14 days.

Since 22 July, holidaymakers travelling between the two islands could do so freely without the need to quarantine on return.

The Isle of Man recorded three new cases of the virus on Monday, taking the total number of active cases to five.

Flights 'regrettably' scrapped

A Manx government spokesman said these were not related to travel from Guernsey but all three had travelled back to the island together after visiting a "high risk area".

One of the individuals had been in close contact with someone in the UK who had the virus, while the other two were found through the contact tracing process. All three are now in self-isolation.

About 70 residents from Guernsey were flown home on Sunday morning after the scheduled return flight on Saturday evening was delayed by bad weather.

Those returning to the channel island were not required to self-isolate.

On Friday, Chief Minister Howard Quayle announced the suspension of the air link "with immediate effect".

A spokesman for Guernsey state-owned airline Aurigny said about 370 people from each island had booked to use the air bridge during the half-term break but those flights had now "regrettably" been scrapped.

In a statement, the airline said it was now "exploring the possibility of Guernsey-Isle of Man links for summer 2021".