AS Islanders wait for details about sailings to be provided under the government’s new contract with Danish shipping giant DFDS, a French ferry firm that received lifeline financial support from Jersey has opened bookings for next year.
Offering passenger services between Granville, Barneville-Carteret, Diélette and the Channel Islands – as well as inter-island routes – Manche Iles Express has announced that sailings will resume over April and May with a regular schedule until the end of September.
The announcement comes a few months after it emerged that the governments of Jersey and Guernsey, as well as the Sark Chief Pleas, had collectively agreed to provide funding for the French ferry firm – conditional on the service “operating as intended in 2025”.
The combined contribution of 370,000 euros, of which Jersey has committed 200,000 euros, followed a request for financial support which the Departmental Council of La Manche made in response to “increased operating costs”.
“The figures for Manche Iles Express in 2024 have been very encouraging despite the economic and political context, as the company transported over 56,000 passengers compared to 53,000 in 2023,” the ferry firm said in a statement this week.
News of Manche Iles Express’s inter-island sailings may provide some comfort to Islanders waiting to see the impact of the recently concluded ferry-tender saga, which saw Jersey and Guernsey select different operators.
DFDS has won the contract for the Island’s UK and French passenger and freight ferry services from 28 March next year, while Guernsey chose Condor’s parent company Brittany Ferries as its preferred bidder.
Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham has stated that both islands – and both companies – are “committed to providing good inter-island services”.
And Guernsey’s President of Economic Development, Deputy Neil Inder, has also said conversations around future travel links between the islands are “ongoing” with a “solution” expected by the end of next month.
DFDS is expected to publish details on services, schedules and vessels within days.
