Brittany Ferries cancels sailings, 50,000 passengers hit
Brittany Ferries is to take two ships out of service following a dramatic slump in demand due the UK government’s decision to remove France from the list of travel-safe destinations.
Immediately after the government imposed a 14-day quarantine for arrivals from France, the ferry operator said 35,000 passengers cancelled or postponed their trips. Forward demand for autumn sailings is ‘extremely weak’, it said.
As a consequence it will take Armorique off the Plymouth to Roscoff route from 31 August and remove Bretagne from the Portsmouth to St Malo route from 7 September. Both ferries will be laid up.
Pont-Aven wil operate three return trips between Plymouth and Roscoff from 10 September, while continuing to operate one return sailing a week from Plymouth to Santader and from Roscoff to Cork.
Brittany Ferries’ Etretat will not resume service, as planned, instead Connemara will continue to operate between Cherbourg and Le Havre rotations from Portsmouth but it will no longer serve Spain.
"We warned over the weekend that schedule changes were likely, as quarantine measures have led to a significant drop in demand for our services," said Director General Christophe Mathieu.
"This is not something we want to do. However, in the context of a terrible summer season we have no choice but to consolidate sailings that, by virtue of lack of passenger numbers, are uneconomic to run. These extraordinary decisions are regrettable and we apologise in advance to all those whose travel plans will be disrupted."
Brittany Ferries said 50,000 passengers with existing bookings will be affected by the schedule changes.
It warned the call centre is expected to be ‘very busy ‘ so it is asking passengers to wait for notification of any changes to their bookings and – where possible – to make alternative arrangements via the My Booking facility on its website.
By Linsey McNeill, Editor (UK)
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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