Brittany Ferries is to increase sailings on the English Channel when the fast-craft Condor Liberation returns to operating at weekends throughout the summer on the Portsmouth-Cherbourg and Cherbourg-Poole routes.

The fastcraft's sailing schedule sees Condor Liberation depart Portsmouth at 07:00 and arrive at Cherbourg (Normandy) at 11:00, that's just 180 minutes. The return sailing from Cherbourg is at 11:45 and arrives at Poole at 13:15. Noting, all times shown are local.

The service which welcomes passengers travelling on car and on foot will operate on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays during the school holiday periods of 14th July – 3rd September 2023.

The fast service will complement Brittany Ferries’ conventional cruise-ferry routes to Cherbourg from Poole and Portsmouth, and passengers can mix and match routes, sailing out to France by fast ferry and returning by cruise-ferry or vice-versa.

Christophe Mathieu, CEO Brittany Ferries said:“We’re delighted to bring even more choice and flexibility for our customers crossing the western Channel this summer.

“These fast sailings will complement our conventional cruise-ferry services operated by Barfleur on the Poole-Cherbourg route, and our overnight sailings from Portsmouth to Cherbourg with our latest ships Galicia and Salamanca. Across our route network this summer customers will now be able to choose from up to 130 departures a week.”

Condor Liberation carries 850 passengers and 235 cars, crossing the English Channel at speeds of up to 42 knots (48 miles per hour) making it the fastest ferry currently sailing the English Channel.

The Condor Liberation adds Afloat is the only fast-ferry on English Channel routes directly connecting Britain and mainland Europe, however fleetmates of the craft operating for Condor Ferries run high-speed sailings linking UK-France via the Channel Islands.

As Afloat reported in 2019, Brittany Ferries acquired a 25% stake in Condor Ferries which is also owned by Columbia Threadneedle Investments. Four years previously, the trimaran Condor Liberation made its maiden voyage from Poole to the Channel Islands. 

On board the Condor Liberation comes a wide range of facilities as standard. The craft offers several spacious open seating lounges and there is for an extra fee, a Club Lounge offers luxurious reclining seats, free Wi-Fi and complimentary hot drinks.

In addition facilities include an extensive duty-free shop, bistro café and bars.