Brittany Ferries cuts routes as UK-France quarantine hits

Brittany Ferries has confirmed changes to its schedule for August and beyond, affect 50,000 passengers, as demand drops following the UK’s decision to impose a quarantine on arrivals from France, according to The Connexion.

The company said that the changes to its schedule came after a weekend over which 35,000 passengers either cancelled or delayed their plans to sail, following the quarantine announcement.

Two ships – the Armorique and the Bretagne – will be laid up completely, while the Etretat will also not resume crossings.

In a press release, director general of Brittany Ferries, Christophe Mathieu, said: “We warned over the weekend that schedule changes were likely, as quarantine measures have led to a significant drop in demand for our services.

“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.”

The schedule changes come just days after Mathieu said that the quarantine rules were a “sledgehammer blow” to its operations, which “may not survive” the rest of the season as a result.

Mathieu said that the effects were likely to impact the business until at least Spring 2021 and added that the company was “lobbying hard” to ask the French Government to drop its plans for a “reciprocal quarantine”.

According to  The Connexion, Brittany Ferries said it has sought “urgent clarification” from the Government over the ruling, and branded it “a nonsense” that puts us [ferries] “at a disadvantage for no apparent reason”.