DFDS sees strong rise in Jersey-France ferry demand

Ferry provider DFDS has reported a strong rise in Jersey passenger numbers, particularly on its links with France, despite having cancelled all planned summer sailings between Jersey and Guernsey earlier this year.

The operator said passenger numbers increased by 20% in May compared with the same month last year.

The biggest rise was on the Jersey–Saint-Malo route, where passenger numbers were up 26%. DFDS attributed the increase to strong demand for day trips and a special 24-hour fare, allowing passengers to stay overnight and return the following day for the same price as a day trip.

Passenger numbers also rose by 11% on the Poole route and by 4% on sailings to Portsmouth.

DFDS added that summer bookings are currently 25% ahead of where they were at the same point last year, with almost 200,000 passengers having already booked travel on its Jersey services during 2026.

In May, DFDS cancelled all planned summer sailings between Jersey and Guernsey and removed the route from sale. Passengers who had already booked were offered refunds.

However, the States of Guernsey told the Government of Jersey that DFDS had "no licence to operate in the first place", accusing the operator of "playing games".

Among the cancelled sailings were several routes previously rejected by Guernsey's authorities, including proposed Monday day-trip services.

Deputy Sasha Kazantseva-Miller, president of Guernsey's Committee for Economic Development, said: "The sailings that DFDS is supposed to be cancelling with the announcement are sailings that have never been authorised by our committee.

"DFDS has never come to us and asked for these Monday sailings with their high-speed vessel over the summer."

DFDS also announced additional sailings between Jersey and Saint-Malo, saying it remains open to future discussions about improving inter-island connections.

France-Ireland routes recovering

The row comes as ferry travel between France, the UK and Ireland is seeing a revival after a decade of declining passenger numbers.

The most visible sign is a new service by Irish ferry operator Hibernia Line between Cork and Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais), which launched in mid-June.

The crossing takes around 21 hours, with ferries departing Boulogne-sur-Mer each evening at 22:00 and Cork at 21:00 local time. Prices for a car and two passengers are around €500 each way.

Hibernia Line said the service is primarily aimed at lorry drivers seeking to avoid the complexities of crossing UK borders on journeys to Ireland.

It will compete with Brittany Ferries, which operates two direct routes between Ireland and France: Cork-Roscoff in north-west Brittany and Rosslare-Cherbourg in Normandy.

DFDS is another direct competitor. From September it will add a third ferry to its Dunkirk-Rosslare service. Irish Ferries also operates a long-running route between Cherbourg and Dublin.

Figures from the UK government's Transport Statistics Great Britain report show that 15.3 million people travelled on UK short-sea ferry routes in 2024, the latest year for which data is available, with 74% of journeys taking place between the UK and France.

This compares with a low of 6.8 million passengers during the Covid pandemic in 2020, 18.4 million in 2019 and 21.3 million in 2014.

Travel experts have suggested competition from air travel was probably responsible for the long-term decline in ferry traffic.

Meanwhile, the proposed ferry between Dunkirk and Rosyth in Scotland appears likely to miss another summer season. Although route operator DFDS told The Connexion it remains interested in opening the line, first proposed for 2024, delays have been blamed on infrastructure problems in Scotland linked to post-Brexit border control requirements.

In March, the Scottish government said it would invest £3 million to improve border control facilities, but DFDS said it had received no further information.