Brittany Ferries calls for vaccination-led approach to travel

As the UK government hits its target for 15 million covid vaccinations in the UK, Brittany Ferries has issued a statement saying ‘now is the time for a re-think on travel corridors’.

The transport company notes that vaccination rates are rising significantly in France and Spain, and these are the countries it serves with its ferries.

It says the case for reciprocal travel corridors to France and Spain ‘should be persuasive’ by summer as the majority of adults are likely to have been vaccinated.

This comes as French health minister Olivier Véran has set out plans that four million people will be vaccinated by the end of February, rising to 43 million by the end of June. That means around 80 per cent of the adult population in Brittany Ferries’ most popular destination should be vaccinated well ahead of the summer holiday season.

Vaccination rates in Spain are currently higher than in France by proportion of the population says Brittany Ferries and, in the UK, all over-50s are forecast to have received the vaccine by the end of May (although this doesn’t account for younger family spouses or children).

“Vaccine roll-out is moving apace in the UK, thanks to the NHS, volunteers and support of the armed forces,” says Christophe Mathieu Brittany Ferries CEO. “While France and Spain are a little behind, the ramp-up is gaining significant momentum. We all believe that vaccines are the way out of this dreadful crisis. So by spring we think there will be a clear case for the adoption of vaccination-led travel corridors that allow holidays to go ahead this summer and for hope to return.”

Brittany Ferries says reciprocal travel corridors based on a combination of high vaccination rates and low infections, could offer a pathway forwards.

“Now is the time for optimism, not a shutdown on the summer getaway,” says Mathieu. “Lockdown Britons should look forward to holiday with growing confidence – and the time is ripe for a re-think on travel corridor policy. We should all be encouraged to book with companies that offer flexible travel, allowing easy amendments or refunds, in the event that the situation changes in the months ahead.”