Passport requirement threatens maritime links to the Channel Islands
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“Honestly, it doesn’t make any sense. For years we went on the Channel Islands without formalities and suddenly we were refused boarding because we did not have this passport. We walk on the head. Alain Robert, 62, is a lover of the Channel Islands, today angry. He is not the only one…
Since October 2021, and following the new “Brexit standards”you now need a passport to get to in Jersey from the ports of Granville and Barneville-Carteret, or in Guernsey and Alderney from Dielette. However… one out of two passengers who arrives for boarding is unaware of this and therefore cannot board! Result: the frequentation of the maritime links between the Channel and the islands has dangerously unscrewed and with it the turnover of the company, in a context already weighed down by the rise in fuel prices.
“If this obligation is not lifted before May 2023, we will put an end to these links! »
“Boats that were on average 80% full are only 40% full. Because of this situation, each passenger, for a ticket at 70 euros, costs 200 euros to the community! It is obviously untenable”, explains Jean Morin, the president of the departmental council of the Channel, which manages these connections via a delegation of public service.
These new formalities further lengthen control times and impact ship departure times. For one-day stays on the islands, the department therefore requires that a simple piece of identification is sufficient. And the president even issues an ultimatum: “If this passport requirement is not lifted before May 2023, we will put an end to these links! »
The survival of this traffic is now suspended a possible compromise between the French and British authorities within three months at the latest.
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