We haven't doubled our fares - Condor

CONDOR has hit back at a Jersey politician's accusations that its fares had doubled during the last year, saying his claims were inaccurate and misleading.

Deputy Sean Power made the claim during an interview with Channel Television and said he planned to make a formal complaint to the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority.

But in a recent interview with the Guernsey Press, the new managing director of Condor assured customers that prices had not risen.

At the time, Simon Edsall (pictured) said: 'The economics of ferry operations are that it's a fixed cost base. What that means is that our costs are the same per trip no matter how many passengers we have. For the great majority of our sailings, we are not completely full. So what we are trying to achieve is maximising the number of people we take on our service each time - and you cannot do that by charging astronomical prices.

'Our prices this year are no higher than they were last year.'

A Condor spokesman added yesterday: 'Condor has a long-term commitment to providing a world-class service to the islands.

'We are disappointed that recent criticisms relating to Condor's fares and pricing structure are inaccurate and misleading.'