Condor face action after weekend of travel chaos

Sunday 20 September 2015

Engineers have fixed the exhaust problems with Condor Liberation but too many passengers have been booked on the ship. Around 70 passengers due to travel from Poole to the Channel Islands on Sunday morning were told they could not travel and have been rebooked for Monday.

Condor said in a statement: "Overnight repair work by our engineers and contractors has been successfully completed and so passengers have been boarding Condor Liberation for her sailing to the Channel Islands today. She will operate at reduced speed and will sail from Poole direct to Jersey, then north to Guernsey and back to Poole. Travel from Guernsey to Jersey will be via Condor Rapide.

"During check in, our port teams discovered that due to a systems error the sailing had become over booked. Unfortunately, as a consequence passengers on approximately 70 bookings will not be able to travel outbound from Poole this morning as the ship will sail at maximum capacity. These passengers have been rebooked on Monday’s sailings, and are being accommodated in Poole by Condor Ferries."

Condor's Executive Director of Operations, Capt Fran Collins said: “On behalf of Condor Ferries, I’d like to sincerely apologise for the disappointment and inconvenience this will cause to those passengers who are affected. Our port teams have been working flat out and moved swiftly to help affected passengers revise their travel plans and to book them accommodation. We will also conduct a thorough investigation to find out how this systems error occurred and ensure that we improve our processes to prevent it happening again."