BA Charter Flight Brings 97 Residents & Supplies
A British Airways air bridge flight arrived in Bermuda last night [April 24] bringing 97 Bermuda residents back home and also delivering medical supplies, including thousands of Covid-19 test kits and N95 masks.
“The plane brought 97 Bermudians back to the island together with further medical supplies, including COVID-19 testing kits and other essential equipment and pharmaceuticals required for the island,” Government House said.
Governor John Rankin said, “I am pleased that we continue to be able to deliver much needed supplies to support the island’s medical services in tackling coronavirus. It is right that we support them as much as possible and I pay tribute to all the medical, nursing and other health staff who are working on the front line at this challenging time.
“I am also pleased that we have once again been able to help Bermudians get back home and I thank the members of the Royal Bermuda Regiment, the Disaster Risk Reduction and Mitigation Team, Airport staff, Customs and Immigration, medical staff and Bermuda Fire and Rescue who helped the passengers and made their arrival safe for all concerned.
“This second air bridge flight builds on the specialist advice and assistance that is provided to Bermuda by Public Health England. The flight is part of the UK’s continuing support for Bermuda and its sister Overseas Territories, in line with wider efforts to ensure the safety and security of British citizens worldwide.”
“All those arriving on the flight will be quarantined for a 14 day period. The return flight will be on Saturday 25 April, taking over 70 persons ordinarily resident in the UK back to their homes.”
Speaking at last night’s press briefing, Minister of National Security Wayne Caines said, “Our Disaster Risk Reduction and Mitigation [DRRM] Team are working with our colleagues at Customs, the Department of Health, the Regiment and Skyport to welcome 97 returning residents back to Bermuda on the British Airways airbridge flight.
“All arriving passengers have been pre-processed electronically by the Department of Immigration to minimize contact with our Customs Officers. From a safety standpoint, as part of the landing process, each officer conducting inspection duties will have the appropriate PPE.
“And each passenger will be given a face mask as well as have their temperature checked in the arrival hall. Once the thorough landing process is complete, the returning residents will be transported by the RBR to an approved Government quarantine facility, which is managed by the DRRM Team in partnership with the Bermuda Reserve Police and licensed security personnel.”
Minister Caines said, “This evening’s arriving British Airways flight will also have on board critical and much needed medical supplies and PPE equipment. These include:
- 12,000 COVID-19 testing kits;
- 10,000 N95 masks – personal protection equipment; and
- Other non-COVID-19 essential pharmaceuticals required to meet the island’s regular needs.
“In this regard, I wish to thank His Excellency Governor John Rankin, Deputy Governor Alison Crockett, the Government House staff and Bermuda’s London Office for all their hard work in facilitating this flight,” Minister Caines added,
“On April 25th, the British Airways flight will depart Bermuda with 74 passengers on board who are returning to the UK. To ensure the safety of all persons involved, we have instituted a strict protocol process for the departing flight.
“Again, the DRRM Team, Customs, the Department of Health, the Royal Bermuda Regiment, Skyport and British Airways staff will all work to coordinate the processing of the 74 passengers on tomorrow’s departing British Airways flight.”
The Government previously announced that 10,000 testing kits purchased from the Cayman Islands would be arriving on this flight.
As the island and world deals with the Covid-19 pandemic, we are doing our best to provide timely and accurate information, and you can find more information on the links below.
- Live: Our continuously updated live blog here
- All: Our coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic here
- Official: The Bermuda Government website here
- World Stats: Live graph of all cases worldwide here
- Bermuda Stats: Chart of the Bermuda stats here
- Timeline: Visual look at the timeline here
- Comprehensive: Our new Covid-19 website here
Good day all,
Great job by all Bermuda Government Minister’s, the Governor of Bermuda and the UK Government.I’m glad we (Never) went independent.
Can the Portuguese community get an airbridge to the Azores as well? As well as other foreign nationals
When the airbridge was announced, it was stated that other nationals could board the flight providing they had a ticket for an onward travel. I appreciate this isn’t helpful if there are no onward flights operating to the desired destination.
Sometimes we often take a lot for granted but this is a real eye opener, we grew up in a society that never thought we would see the likes of what we are experiencing today, after all this was all far fetched in the 60′s/70′s/80′s and even most of the 90′s, Then we were introduced to a World with a difference on the Big Screen, all in the movies but “NO”, This could never happen in our life time.
The Reality is that it is and if this can all come true, after years of looking at movies that showed of a time to come, This makes me “HONOR” my Seniors more, Because this also tells me that the “BIBLE” is also true. Bermuda we are the strength of each other and we can face anything when we put God first, and more importantly each other.
To all the First Respondent’s on the front line as we see here at the airport, again we show our appreciation and say thank’s and to Bernews we really say “THANKS” because with out your first hand reporting most of us would be in the dark during these dark periods, Thanks for the light you bring in these crucial times.
And thank you to all the hardworking Bermudian men and women at Menzies Aviation Bermuda Ltd as well as Cedar Aviation for all their hard work servicing the aircraft and all other aircraft that have been arriving bringing essential supplies for the island during this pandemic.