Passengers on Condor’s high speed services will not be required by the company to produce a negative Covid-19 result when it hopes schedules will resume in May.
The decision means those travelling on Liberation and Rapide services between the Islands, the UK and France will not need a negative result which Condor believes will provide encouragement for people to travel and help boost the visitor economies as jurisdictions start to relax restrictions.
For passengers on conventional vessels – Commodore Clipper and the freight-only Commodore Goodwill – the prerequisite of a negative test within 72 hours of departure is being maintained to safeguard freight supplies.
Elwyn Dop, Condor’s Operations Director, said: “We stepped up safety protocols earlier this year to protect those on our conventional ships and keep freight shipments secure which was absolutely the right decision at the time.
“The encouraging news of a reduction in cases and a ramping up of vaccinations in the UK has provided us with the confidence that these tests will not be needed for travel on our passenger ferries when we restart, although we will retain this requirement on Clipper and Goodwill”.
The company’s decision has no bearing on the need for testing by Public Health authorities on arrivals in Guernsey and Jersey and passengers are advised to check the requirements for all countries to which they are travelling. Tests required for Clipper can be either PCR or lateral flow.
Condor is hoping to restart high speed passenger sailings on 21 May subject to a relaxation and travel and quarantine restrictions.