Is ferry operator still committed to island?

When you start viewing the failings of the Condor timetable for Guernsey residents this may be the reason. I am questioning whether they are building an economic case to exclude Guernsey from their routine sailings. Hardly a ferry runs to Jersey, twice-weekly sailings to St Malo, days of no fast ferry to the UK and when they do run they usually arrive after 10pm, which is of little use to families. Fares are on the rise and exorbitantly so. There is no office open in Guernsey and clients are left hanging on a 0345 number if help is required.

Our politicians are talking up the purchase of a ferry and handing it to Condor to run at Guernsey’s expense. If they wish to purchase a ferry then tag it on to Aurigny and use the Aurigny staff and booking software, which would only require minor IT tweaks, to run it. Condor is not fit for purpose and an alternative must be sought.

GILLIAN JEFFERY

La Cache

La Pomare

St Peter’s

GY79HQ

Editor’s footnote: A spokesman for Condor Ferries replies: Thank you for the opportunity to reply. We would like to reassure your reader that Condor is committed to serving Guernsey – as it has done for the past 75 years – and the recent news that we are jointly investing in a new vessel with the States of Guernsey is an example of that. Additionally, our new timetable for this summer provides greater sailing capacity around weekends when people mostly want to travel. Guernsey now has a dedicated high-speed vessel providing direct services to the UK and connecting the island with both Poole and Portsmouth six days a week during peak. Also, more passengers have booked to travel with us to the UK this summer than in the same period in 2019 (the last unaffected year), so not everyone would agree with your correspondent. Our services to the Continent over the past two years have been heavily affected by the barriers to travel and business has not yet returned. Despite this, we will run four services a week over a longer period this summer – twice-weekly to St Malo as well as introducing a new Thursday and Monday round trip to Cherbourg in Normandy – which will provide options for islanders and support the inbound visitor economy. This capacity more than accommodates the historic volume required for islanders wishing to travel to France and is certainly sufficient given the lower demand coming in to the island from the Continent. We would also challenge the assertion about our fares this year. Everyone will have experienced fare, price and cost increases right across the board and we have made a conscious effort to keep prices competitive to ensure we can assist in passenger travel both in and out of the island throughout the year.