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Condor has agreed to help bring islanders home from St. Malo after President Emmanuel Macron announced that the country would be closing its borders in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
The ferry service will be operating services from St. Malo to Jersey and Guernsey on Thursday 19 March and Sunday 22 March to repatriate both Channel Islanders and French residents.
The Government says the incoming sailings from France will be met by officials, as passengers retuning from the 'tier 1' country will need to go into isolation for a fortnight, whether or not they are displaying symptoms of the virus. They will be following similar procedures to those used when a Tenerife flight arrived in the island several days ago, which saw passengers bussed home without being able to meet family and friends at the airport.
A service between the UK and Channel Islands will also be offered on Thursday or Monday 23 March.
Condor will then suspend its French and UK passenger services for one week until 2 April, the start of the Easter school holidays. Freight-only services will not be affected.
Dès le 17 mars à midi, les frontières à l’entrée de l’espace Schengen seront fermées. Tous les voyages entre les pays non européens et l’Union européenne seront suspendus. Les Français à l’étranger qui veulent rentrer pourront bien sûr rejoindre leur pays.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) March 16, 2020
Tweet: President Emmanuel Macron announcing the closure of borders.
However, Condor CEO Paul Luxon said plans could be subject to change.
It said this was in line with government advice that islanders should avoid non-essential travel to curb the spread of corona virus.
Mr Luxon commented: “We remain absolutely committed to bringing families home, so our priority is to ensure that such essential travel takes place. This is a pragmatic approach given the government advice available in what is clearly an evolving situation.”
Passengers are now being contacted to secure their bookings.
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