Figures have already been released showing air passenger numbers rose by just 511, despite 7,633 travellers making use of the new, publicly subsidised Heathrow link. The latest statistics for ferry travel show a fall of 1,146 passengers between the UK and Guernsey during the same month.
When taken together, that represents a total fall of 635 journeys from May the previous year, when the island celebrated the 80th anniversary of the Liberation.
The breakdown in sea travel figures shows that most of the drop came on the Poole route, where the number of passengers fell by 837, or 7%, compared to the year before.
This is a reversal of the picture seen in the first four months of the year, when the number of sea travellers coming from England has been trending upwards.
It is a similar story on the St Malo route, where the numbers were down by 2,023 passengers, or 12%. Once Dielette sailings are added in, the total decline in numbers on the French routes rises to 2,204.
Once again the fall in passenger numbers during May contrasts with increases earlier in the year, though most of that period coincides with Condor Ferries operating the route, rather than Brittany Ferries, which took over at the end of March 2025.
There is better news for inter-island sea travel. Numbers on the Guernsey-Jersey route went up steeply this May, with 8,376 passengers travelling between the two islands, which is 141% up on the same month in 2025. This was expected, with Islands Unlimited, supported by States subsidies for the past two summers, only starting services right at the tail end of May last year.
Although total numbers travelling between Guernsey and Alderney were relatively modest, at 314, this was still an 84% rise over the year before. Herm Trident carried 690 more passenger than it did in May 2025, a rise of 10%.
The only inter-island route to see a decline during May was Sark, but that was only down by 60 passengers (1%).
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