‘It will be virtually impossible’ to use inter-island ferry service

Manche Iles’ confirmed schedule for May to September includes 49 day trips from Jersey to Guernsey, and seven from Guernsey to Jersey, which are all on Saturdays.

Economic Development has said it is in negotiations with the operator about improving this offer, but Stag founder Dave Piesing has made enquiries himself.

‘Over the past week I have been in email contact with Manche Iles about their existing and potential extended timetable this summer, expressing my serious concerns that the timetable as it stands does not improve transport links for inter-island sporting fixtures,’ he said.

‘I asked them what their extended timetable would look like, and based on what they told me it does not seem as though there would be many or even perhaps any additional sailings at weekends through the summer, even if they add all of the extra 100 sailings [legs] which seems to be under discussion, as these will focus on Monday to Friday sailings.’

Although some business figures have said the published timetable favours Jersey, Mr Piesing said none of the weekend sailings from Jersey could be considered ‘full-day return trips’.

‘That means there are just seven out of a total of 104 possible weekend full-day returns across both islands, which is extremely disappointing,’ he said.

‘This is really not materially different from what Condor have been offering over the past two to three years, and it therefore looks as though a golden opportunity to reinvigorate inter-island sporting fixtures could be missed,’ he said.

Mr Piesing said it was ‘very hard to see where all that extra midweek demand is going to come from outside of July and August’, whereas he felt there would be high demand for weekend travel.

‘The obvious inference is that Manche Iles Express don’t really want to commit to anything extra at weekends which could impact upon their existing core weekend service between Normandy and the islands,’ said Mr Piesing.

‘For sports in both islands, if this is all that is on offer then inter-island sport will continue to be heavily restricted,’ he said.

‘It will be virtually impossible to use the ferry service, and the net result will either be to incur the much higher cost of flying, or alternatively just not arranging the inter-island fixtures and they simply won’t happen, nor will there be an upsurge in residents of both islands making weekend leisure trips.

‘In other words, nothing will have changed from the status quo, and yet it is the widespread frustration with the status quo which triggered the whole tender process.’

Mr Piesing said he has raised his concerns with Guernsey’s Economic Development president Charles Parkinson and his Jersey counterpart, Senator Lyndon Farnham.

In a statement at the weekend, Senator Farnham said both governments were in talks with the company about providing additional services and that he was willing to use up to £100,000 already allocated to the project to help fund it.

A spokesman for Economic Development said talks are ongoing with Manche Iles ‘about potential services it could offer in addition to its already announced schedule for this summer’.

‘While we understand the level of interest, carrying out commercial negotiations through the media is not the most appropriate way to try and secure the best outcome for the community.

‘As such we will provide additional detail once discussions with Manche Iles have concluded.’

Manche Iles operations director Hugues Gros has said ‘there needs to be a subsidy put in place by the government’ if further sailings are to be added.

‘We have already published our timetable for crossings between the two islands this year, but we have made a new proposal,’ he said.

Mr Gros has not confirmed whether this offer is in line with the one set out by Mr Piesing.