DFDS 'playing games' with unlicensed ticket sales

The States of Guernsey has told the Government of Jersey and ferry operator DFDS to "stop playing games" after the operator cancelled sailings it was accused of having "no licence to operate in the first place".

It comes after DFDS announced it had cancelled all inter-island sailings this summer, including routes previously rejected by the States and several Monday day trip sailings.

Committee for Economic Development President Deputy Sasha Kazantseva-Miller said DFDS was "effectively cancelling something they shouldn't have been selling in the first place".

DFDS has been approached for comment and the Government of Jersey declined to respond.

The Economic Development Committee said it only "recently discovered" DFDS had been selling tickets for the Monday sailings in July and August, which it was not authorised to sail.

Kazantseva-Miller 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 this Monday sailings with their high-speed vessel over the summer.

"To be unambiguous, the sailings DFDS claims are being 'cancelled' were never authorised by Guernsey in the first place.

"We are absolutely open to considering any proposals, so it's very astonishing, frankly, to say that these proposals that have been on sale haven't come to the committee.

"We would have very openly considered them on the same criteria and parameters that we considered the previous proposal."

The other sailings cancelled by DFDS were proposals for a weekend route between the islands and Portsmouth which were rejected by Economic Development in April.

Kazantseva-Miller said finding a solution to inter-island travel may have to wait until a new Jersey government was in place after the general election in June.

"We urge really both the Government of Jersey and DFDS to really openly engage with the government of Guernsey to really sort inter-island connectivity and stop playing games like this," she said.

"If the Government of Jersey is generally committed to inter-island travel, they need to make it a contractual obligations for DFDS to operate.

"Otherwise, what appears is that there is a lot of talk but actually there's very little walking the walk.

"Actually playing these games providing and selling services that are unlicensed are really games we don't want to be playing."

DFDS has been approached for comment on the cancellations and the comments from Kazantseva-Miller.

Jersey's Minister for Sustainable Economic Development Deputy Kirsten Morel was approached for comment but declined to respond.

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