Major changes at Brittany Ferries have forced the operator to introduce a reduction in services following the imposition of (Covid-19) quarantine on travellers returning to the UK from France and the effect this has had on existing reservations as well as forward demand.
This has led Brittany Ferries from today confirming changes to scheduled services (as outlined further below).
The news follows a weekend in which 35,000 passengers (English Channel routes) either cancelled or delayed their travel plans with the company. Forward demand for autumn sailings is also extremely weak.
As a consequence, the company has been forced to change its schedules, with the first changes applying from the end of August. The following ships and route amendments have now been confirmed:
- Brittany Ferries Armorique will be laid up from 31 August. This cruiseferry currently serves the Plymouth-Roscoff route (which Afloat adds notably launched the ferry company in 1973 and five years later the Cork-Roscoff route was introduced)
- Brittany Ferries Pont-Aven will replace Armorique on the Plymouth to Roscoff route from 10 September with three return trips per week. Pont-Aven will also continue to operate one return sailing from Plymouth to Santander and from Roscoff to Cork during the week. (Afloat adds the Irish 'weekend' seasonal service is unaffected) noting for the 2021 season there will be more capacity along with a new Rosslare-Cherbourg route).
- Brittany Ferries Bretagne will be laid up from 7 September. She currently serves the Portsmouth to St Malo route.
- Brittany Ferries Etretat will not resume crossings, as planned: Connemara will continue to operate the Cherbourg and Le Havre rotations from Portsmouth, but 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 Christophe Mathieu, director general Brittany Ferries. “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.”
Around 50,000 passengers with existing bookings will be affected by the schedule changes. Brittany Ferries apologises in advance for the inconvenience and will do all it can to accommodate displaced customers on other services.
The call centre is expected to be very busy in the days ahead. Passengers are therefore asked to wait for notification of any change to their booking and – where possible – to make alternative arrangements via the My Booking facility on the operators UK website here.
Afloat adds for any further information /Covid-19 updates on Ireland-France routes visit the Brittany Ferries Irish website here.
