In the past Condor would release schedules in two tranches and often with only a few months’ notice. For example the schedule for January to October 2023 was only released in October 2022.
But this week Brittany Ferries – Condor’s majority shareholder – released a full year of sailings.
It the second timetable published since Brittany became the island's main ferry provider for Guernsey.
Brittany Ferries CEO Christophe Mathieu said the company wanted to connect people and the earlier release would allow people to plan ahead.
‘This is the earliest we have launched our Channel Islands’ timetable, so is as we promised in the tender last year,’ he said.
‘This is also important for our travel trade partners in the UK and continental Europe, as it allows them to plan further ahead, increase group bookings and broaden distribution.’
New Economic Development president Sasha Kazantseva-Miller was a member of last term’s ED committee, which negotiated the agreement.
‘During the negotiation for the ferry contract we were keen to ensure schedules were published earlier to allow islanders to have more time to plan their trips and buy their tickets,’ she said.
‘Brittany Ferries were happy to implement this change and we are happy to see their long-term schedule has now been published. Hopefully that will provide further confidence for our tourism sector, for example, not least given the success of the new services so far.’
Jersey chose to go with Danish ferry company DFDS, which released its schedule only until the end of October this year earlier this week.
It is reportedly hoping to release its 2025 winter schedule soon.
The Islander conventional ferry and Voyager fast ferry will remain the island’s main vessels, but the Clipper conventional ferry will be returning to local waters in November to help cover services while the other ships are serviced.
The schedule reveals that there will be few Sunday sailings this winter.
There are also no sailings on Christmas Eve, or on the festive bank holidays.
Unlike last winter, there will be a couple of weekly fast ferry sailings between Guernsey and the UK over the winter months, alongside the more regular conventional ferry sailings.
There will be several services a week to St Malo over the winter, despite the port only having one berth from this winter, while upgrading work is carried out.
Brittany Ferries has warned that French sailing times may vary slightly from what is currently published, as St Malo slots are not finalised until later in the summer.
DFDS is still undertaking work to see how its St Malo schedule can fit in with other operators while the upgrading work takes place.
Looking to 2026, the company is again offering high-speed morning departures from St Malo and evening returns to France, which have proved very popular with visitors.
That combination, along with an agreement which allows French people to make day trips to the island on their ID cards, rather than passports, has led to a 60% increase in passengers on French services to Guernsey in May compared with last year.
Brittany Ferries is continuing to offer weekly inter-island services every Wednesday.
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