Why is it £3.36 per mile to St Malo?

From Michael de Petrovsky.

IF Jersey wishes to boost tourism the States need to address both transport and accommodation.

As far as the latter is concerned and to be competitive, accommodation needs to match that of continental Europe with charges set at per room rather than per person. Perhaps we could also learn something from such hotel chains as Ibis and Formula 1.

The matter of transport is more complex. With regard to air travel, Jersey could well do with a ‘Red Eye’, Ryanair flight to Stansted and a late evening one from that airport home. This would allow travellers to make use of the cheap flights between Stansted and the rest of Europe, without the exorbitant, additional costs of trans-London rail and overnight accommodation. Not only would this allow Jersey residents cheap access to Europe, it would encourage a flow of visitors from Europe to Jersey.

An investigation into the charges made by ferry services around the British Isles would seem to indicate that we in Jersey are, yet again, being ‘ripped off’. For a car and two adults (seniors – some ferries do give a reduction for the over 65s) attempting to travel out on Saturday 14 February and returning on Friday 22 February, as cheaply as possible, the costs per mile were found to be as follows:

Harwich to Hook of Holland, 76p; Portsmouth to St Malo, 86p; Liverpool to the Isle of Man, £1.46; Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire, £1.90; Rosslaire to Fishguard, £1.98; Southampton to Isle of Wight, £2; Jersey to St Malo, £3.36.

It is understandable that a short voyage will incur greater costs than a long one as there is less mileage to support harbour charges and the costs of loading and offloading. However, even the Isle of Wight ferry, covering a quarter of the distance of the Jersey to St Malo one, is still 1.36p per mile cheaper than Condor. (Mileages were taken from Reeds Nautical Almanac and fares from the internet on 17 January.)

This would seem to indicate an excessive measure of monopoly exploitation – an exploitation that requires competition or States capping.

Le Sellier,

Rue du Rondin,

St Mary.