Manche Iles Express restarts its services from Normandy next week, but will be running fewer crossings than in previous years. It operates two ferries, the Victor Hugo and the Granville.
It said that Brexit has complicated its post-Covid relaunch, with French tourists now requiring a passport to enter the Channel Islands instead of a national identity card.
‘We’re restarting with some uncertainties, especially due to the need to have a passport since October 2021,’ said Olivier Normand, commercial director of Manche Iles Express.
‘We did a small-scale study which showed that 40-50% of our customers don’t have a passport and would not get one in order to go to Jersey again.
‘We’re restarting in a reduced format, ensuring we travel to all the Channel Islands from the three ports in La Manche [Carteret, Granville and Dielette] but with half the number of journeys.
‘Ferries will sail between the end of April and end of September, so our service will become seasonal to account for the customers we’ve lost.’
As well as French services the company operates some inter-island trips and operates to Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney and Sark.
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