Brittany Ferries has outlined a series of changes to its schedules in response to the on-going Covid-19 crisis.
On 12 March, 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 announced a state of alert, applicable from 14 March. This follows a significant increase in Covid-19 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 9 April:
- Brittany Ferries will withdraw Étretat from the Le Havre-Portsmouth service, following its arrival into Le Havre on Tuesday 17
- Following her dry-dock in Poland, Pont-Aven will not return to service on Tuesday as planned on 17 March until at least 10 April. Pont-Aven was scheduled to serve the following destinations: Portsmouth-Santander-Plymouth-Roscoff-Cork.
| Day | ||
| Monday | Arrive Santander 12.15
Depart Santander 15.15 |
|
| Tuesday | Arrive Portsmouth 14.15
Depart Portsmouth 17.15 |
|
| Wednesday | Arrive Santander 18.15
Depart Santander 21.15 |
|
| Thursday | Arrive Plymouth 16.30
Depart Plymouth 20.45 |
|
| Friday | Arrive Roscoff 08.00
Depart Roscoff 20.30 |
|
| Saturday | Arrive Cork 09.30
Depart Cork 16.00 |
|
| Sunday | Arrive Roscoff 07.00
Depart Roscoff 09.30 |
Arrive Plymouth 13.45
Depart Plymouth 16.15 |
- Brittany Ferries’ Kerry Rosslare to Bilbao service will take only freight traffic. The last passenger service will leave Bilbao at 12.00 Sunday 15 March bound for Rosslare. This change applies until at least 9 April.
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.
“On behalf of everyone in the company, I would like to apologise for the significant disruption this will cause to many customers,” said Christophe Mathieu, Chief Executive, Brittany Ferries. “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.”
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.
