After a strong start to the year, with a 24% increase in ferry passengers in January compared to 2024, February saw a slight decline of 6%. Despite this dip, our year-to-date figures remain positive, showing a 4% overall increase - an encouraging trend. Importantly, the February drop represents a relatively small number of passengers, just 462 (excluding inter-Bailiwick travel and cruise).

Air travel, on the other hand, saw a notable increase in February, with 2,519 more passengers than the same month in 2024. This helped offset the ferry decline of 618 passengers, resulting in a net gain of 1,901 travellers. While the Poole and St Malo ferry routes experienced solid growth, numbers were down on the Herm and Jersey routes.

Brittany Ferries, the island’s new ferry operator, successfully launched its services on March 28th, and early data looks promising. Inbound forward bookings are up across the board, with UK-to-Guernsey car bookings ahead by 6% and car bookings from France rising by 14%. Foot passenger bookings have surged by an impressive 144% compared to 2024 - clear evidence that the targeted marketing efforts in Brittany and Normandy during January are paying off.