The new working group will have a particular focus on ensuring convenient sailing times for inter-island events.
The States wants to do more to ensure that sailing times for Brittany Ferries, Manche-Iles Express and Islands Unlimited can work effectively for the community.
The operators and States representatives met for a first time last week, and discussed inter-insular sports and the idea of cross-ticketing between themselves.
The group will now continue to meet regularly in 2026 to plan schedules, and Visit Guernsey will be working with them to reflect requests from clubs or associations for travel.
‘Travel by ferry between Guernsey and Jersey is an important part of island life, and, as part of our in-development sea connectivity strategy, it is something we want to see improve in the new year,’ said Economic Development president Sasha Kazantseva-Miller.
‘It has been excellent to see the positive response from the three operators we are working with, who showed immediate keenness to work together and develop a plan which will provide optimal sailing times to the public, and ensure events taking place between the islands are properly catered for.’
Last summer the only regular inter-island service was from Guernsey-based Islands Unlimited, which was a new entrant on the route, which it sailed six days a week. It carried some 28,000 passengers across the summer.
‘We’re pleased to be working collaboratively with fellow ferry operators and the States of Guernsey to improve inter-island sea connectivity, particularly in support of events, sport and tourism,’ said CEO Chad Murray.
French-based Manche-Iles Express was supported by a States subsidy for the first time, as was Islands Unlimited.
It said that it carried 15,000 passengers between Jersey and Guernsey and Sark, and 12,000 from Normandy to Guernsey and Alderney, 2,500 more than in 2024.
The two main ferry operators in the Channel Islands only linked Guernsey and Jersey for one day a week each, Brittany Ferries on a Wednesday and DFDS on a Monday, though this service proved rather intermittent.
Deputy Kazantseva-Miller said she expected people to ask why DFDS was not involved in this new operators group.
‘While we remain open to engaging with them at any time and note that they contacted us some time ago expressing a willingness to do so, we have not received any further follow-up. We also continue to keep discussions open with the Government of Jersey on ensuring a reciprocal rotation from the DFDS.’
DFDS last week announced better ramp times for its services in St Malo for 2026, which led Economic Development to say that it had got involved with the French authorities to ensure that Brittany Ferries and Guernsey would continue to get decent access. An update on that is expected next year.
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