The company has celebrated ‘massive growth’ on all routes and chief executive Christophe Mathieu has described the year as ‘very positive’. Six months of operation under the new contract passed at the weekend.
‘We have fully dedicated ourselves to make it successful, but we were also greatly helped and assisted by the people in Guernsey. The numbers speak for themselves,’ he said.
‘I think we are a little bit above our expectation, especially when it comes to this southern route, and the numbers of French people visiting Guernsey by foot.
‘Not all, because even on the car passenger side, it’s a significant growth over last year.
‘But the big boom – the one that I think we had not quite expected the volume of – is those day trips to Guernsey, which is great because, from what I understand and I’ve been told many times, it really brings a different atmosphere in the island.
‘It’s great because at the end of the day we’re talking about exchanges, connections between people and people visiting each other and understanding the culture better.
‘Guernsey is such an interesting place because at the end of the day it’s that British spirit, but with a lot of French history, and Victor Hugo, of course, being the main icon or topic.
‘So it’s above expectations, and we look forward now to carry on working with the States of Guernsey to improve, develop, strengthen and consolidate everything that has started so well this season.’
Mr Mathieu said that freight services had also gone well. ‘I think everybody is happy because I think we’ve organised the best we could, given the schedule and one-ship operation.’
Although there were concerns about how a ferry operator could sustain a single island service at the time of the collapse of the pan-island ferry tender, Mr Mathieu said its operation, using just the Voyager and Islander ferries, with consistent sailing times, had worked out well.
‘The schedule works okay. Of course you could always do more because the ships are not full in absolute terms, but they’re never full in absolute terms anywhere in Brittany Ferries. But we are happy with two ships running this operation, and remember, we’re going to build on this more and more.
‘Things take time, but we also build on more in putting Guernsey as part of our destination map, to cross-sell more Guernsey with France, if you are Brits; Guernsey with Britain, if you are French. We’re also trying to make Guernsey more integrated to our destinations at Brittany Ferries.
‘So there’s plenty of things to do to capitalise and develop further. And of course, we are also depending on the dynamism of the Guernsey economy and on some projects that could happen for the freight and all of that.
‘We will always be there to assist and to bring everything that is required on the island. We have an extensive network of contacts and we want to make sure Guernsey gets connected in Brittany because it seems like it’s a long-term mutual benefit for the island.
‘At the end of the day, as an island, you are almost equidistant from the UK and France. If you make the most of both, that must be, of course, to your benefit.
‘It seems as though the States of Guernsey needs or wants to open up more to France, which would be absolutely great.
'We’re there to help, and it’s part of our DNA to assist them in doing all of that.’
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