Staff across Condor will be affected as company resizes

Paul Luxon has today written to customers as travel restrictions imposed because of Covid-19 continue to take their toll.

'Guernsey was expected to open its borders to quarantine-free passage in early September but that is now improbable so the relaxation from 14 days isolation to seven for arrivals, that started last week, means travel is still only suitable for islanders and those visiting friends and relatives,' he said.

'As a consequence, we are reviewing the frequency of services for next month and may have to cancel sailings which will no longer be viable.'

Jersey has imposed a five-day quarantine for arrivals from St Malo, which has led to a drop in bookings and cancellation, he said.

The company's French freight operation has been suspended for two months because of the port's dispute with stevedores there.

'For Condor, the past few months have and continue to be very challenging. We encountered the "perfect storm" of all passenger sailings suspended from March through to July, all bookings cancelled or deferred over the period and the lack of certainty of a start date has clearly affected customer confidence so the reduction in forward bookings is a direct reflection of this.

'The effect of this is that drastic changes are being made to protect Condor’s future, which means a resizing of the business and sadly, this affects staffing across the company. As a consequence, we will be forced to run a more limited schedule for at least the remainder of this year.'