Coronavirus forces Brittany Ferries to revise schedule
On March 12, the French government announced steps to protect its citizens. As a company employing all-French crew, Brittany Ferries must also respond quickly.
It must prepare for the possibility that many crew may not be available to work, either through self-isolation or because they are caring for family members at home.
In addition the Spanish government has announced a state of alert, applicable from March 14. This follows a significant increase in Coronavirus cases and advice from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office guidance advising citizens to avoid travel to certain regions of Spain.
The measures are therefore designed to ensure sufficient crew are available to operate as many services as possible, while responding to the dynamic political situation in Spain.
The following changes will apply until at least April 9 2020:
Brittany Ferries will withdraw Étretat from service, following its arrival into Le Havre on Tuesday March 17. This ship currently operates the following schedule:
Following its dry-dock in Poland, Pont-Aven will not return to service on Tuesday as planned on 17 March until at least April 9 2020. Pont-Aven was scheduled to serve the following destinations: Portsmouth-Santander-Plymouth-Roscoff-Cork.
Brittany Ferries’ Kerry service operating between Rosslare and Bilbao will take only freight. The last passenger service will leave Bilbao at 12:00 Sunday March 15 bound for Rosslare. This change applies until at least April 9 2020.
Brittany Ferries’ freight-only service Pelican, linking Bilbao in Spain with Poole in the UK will take only unaccompanied trailers (as opposed to trailer+driver) with immediate effect.
These changes will be reviewed by directors in the days and weeks to come. All passengers with existing reservations will be offered a full refund. Where possible – and acceptable to the traveller – alternative arrangements will be made on other Brittany Ferries services.
Brittany Ferries CEO Christophe Mathieu said: "On behalf of everyone in the company, I would like to apologise for the significant disruption this will cause to many customers.
"However, under the extraordinary circumstances of the current crisis, we have no option but to take decisive action now to respond to the challenges we face. We thank everyone for their understanding at this difficult time."
The ferry operator added: "It is likely that customer relations teams in all markets will be extremely busy in the days to come. In addition, normal two-way interaction via social media may not be possible due to the volume of enquiries and availability of staff.
"Brittany Ferries apologises in advance for delays in usual response times."
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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