Daily sailings to St Malo in new peak timetable

Brittany Ferries is the majority shareholder of Condor

Brittany Ferries will operate a daily service to St Malo, France, during the peak season as part of its timetables for next year, bosses have confirmed.

Passengers can book services from Tuesday 26 November at 17:00 GMT.

The company, which is the majority shareholder of Condor, will only sail to Jersey once a week from 28 March, which the States of Guernsey said was "not yet optimal".

The Government of Jersey has started a new tender process to find a ferry operator for the next 15 years, after Guernsey selected Brittany Ferries.

The Condor Liberation is being redeployed onto some French routes

The company, which is the majority shareholder of Condor, is set to use three ships for services - Islander, Voyager and Clipper.

It is not yet clear what this means for the Commodore Goodwill and Condor Liberation, which had previously operated to and from Channel Island ports.

The States said the contract with Brittany Ferries should be signed on Tuesday 26 November.

Speaking about the release of the new schedules, Economic Development President Deputy Neil Inder said: "We didn't want to wait any longer than necessary before we and Brittany gave the community the certainty it needs and deserves."

Brittany Ferries chief executive Christophe Matthieu said the schedule would help support the tourism sector.

"We are committed to providing islanders with convenient options to secure their journeys," he said.

The States said the Commodore Clipper would "provide resilience and operate back-up services"

From March 28 2025, the Condor Voyager will operate a high-speed service from St Malo at 08:00 to Guernsey, onwards to Poole, and then back to Guernsey before returning to St Malo.

On Wednesdays, the Voyager will not stop at Poole on its outward journey, and will instead visit Jersey.

The Condor Islander will operate a service for freight and passengers six days a week from Guernsey to Portsmouth.

On Saturdays the vessel will go from Guernsey to St Malo, before returning to Guernsey.

The States said the Commodore Clipper would "provide resilience and operate back-up services as and when required on all routes".

Inder said "sailings will not be subject to tidal variations" and will have "good frequency without any notable increase in cost" as part of a Guernsey-only service run by Brittany Ferries.

He said the "door is still open" should Jersey choose Brittany Ferries.

Trade boost

Stephen Rouxel, president of Guernsey's Chamber of Commerce, said the new timetable "presents an excellent opportunity to strengthen connections with our French neighbours".

He said it would be a boost for tourism and trade, including increasing the volume of French imports.

Despite his enthusiasm for the regular links to St Malo, Mr Rouxel said parts of the new schedules were challenging.

"These include the loss of economies of scale, added complexity for freight logistics, and the current absence of an inter-island service," he said.

"Despite these issues, we are committed to collaboration and working together to make this transition a success for our community."