Mr Luxon marked his first day in the job with a message to all of the company’s staff, which was delivered to them by video link earlier this morning. In the message, which was recorded last week in Guernsey, he said: “So, it’s May the 1st, a day I’ve been looking forward to and a really important opportunity for me to be able to introduce myself to all of you, my Condor colleagues.”

He recognized the challenges which the company had faced over the last year saying, “It must have been an incredibly testing time for all of you individually and I want to thank you and recognise the efforts you’ve made.”

Speaking of his determination to service improvement, Mr Luxon reminded staff that: “The Islands really do rely on us - and what we have to do is to give that reliable, stable ferry service whether it be for tourism, commerce or indeed lifeline travel off-Island. I know that we can absolutely regain trust from all 163,000 people of the Channel Islands and indeed our target markets in the UK and France.”

Executive Chairman, Russell Kew added: “In Paul, Condor welcomes as its new CEO an Islander with deep understanding of the needs of the Channel Islands. The board and I look forward to supporting him and our dedicated managers and staff in delivering a service of which everyone can be proud.”