Minister starts review of “unsustainable” Condor service

Tuesday 05 January 2016

A review of Condor’s ferry service to the Island has been brought forward over Economic Development Minister Lyndon Farnham’s concerns about the “unsustainability” of the current arrangements.

He says that the company is “losing the confidence” of the travelling public, and that the review could lead to changes in the service level agreement – the deal that effectively sets out the standards that Condor have to achieve to keep their contract.

Senator Farnham said: “I think basically that the position is unsustainable, both for Condor and for the Channel Islands.

“It has been a very unfortunate and unlucky start for the Liberation and it has had an impact on all of their services.

“I think that time is running out for them.

“They are losing the confidence of the travelling public and they are going to have to work very hard to get it back. We want to help them, we want nothing more than a reliable and appropriate ferry service.”

You can read the full interview with Senator Farnham here.

Condor say that after a week that saw fast ferry sailing disrupted by stormy weather in the Channel, they are monitoring the weather and will give an update on this weekend’s planned sailings at 2 pm tomorrow.

They had planned to only operate two fast ferry sailings per week during January, because of low passenger demand.

Liberation is due to go into dock for repairs to belting that was damaged last week, and for maintenance. It is due to be back in service ahead of the February half term, with Condor Rapide going in for maintenance after the break.

Captain Fran Collins, Condor’s Executive Director – Operations, said: “Many teams at Condor have worked right through the Christmas and the New Year weekend to keep freight and passengers moving, as well as to undertake vital engineering work and to keep customers updated.

“We know that the changes necessitated by both the weather and the technical incident on Condor Liberation have been challenging for our customers and I'd like to thank them for their patience and understanding during this particularly testing period.”