Brittany Ferries reports spike in summer 2022 bookings
Brittany Ferries is hoping it’s now plain sailing ahead.
It has reported a surge in reservations for travel next summer.
The ferry company has recently navigated a path through two disastrous summer seasons, as Covid-19 sent passenger traffic to a virtual standstill.
However, the boost for summer 2022 has brought renewed optimism.
By the end of October 2021, 188,878 passengers had booked travel for the period July to September 2022.
That’ equates to 48% more than the 127,517 who had booked for the 2020 summer season – at the end of October 2019.
In terms of breakdown by market, UK-France reservations were up 40%.
On UK-Spain routes, reservations rose by 35% while France-Ireland soared 234%.
This positive news for Brittany Ferries follows welcome assistance from the French state.
A grant of €45 million was recently authorised by Paris to compensate for passenger travel restrictions that caused Brittany Ferries’ turnover to plummet by €220m in 2020 alone.
Alongside the grant, the France also announced a €10 million waiver for debt contracted with ADEME and €6 million aid from the Brittany Region.
Furthermore, Brittany Ferries has welcomed the extension of so-called ‘net wage’ provisions for French sailors.
Announced by president Macron at Les assises de l’économie de la Mer conference in September, this tax break has been extended for three years.
"I welcome the boost in reservations for next year," said Christophe Mathieu, CEO of Brittany Ferries.
"We are so grateful to our loyal customers and, of course, to the French state for acknowledging our plight. The support of French government combined with the loyalty of our British and Irish customers will allow us to continue the beautiful voyage of this company."
In total, the last two summer seasons combined drew in fewer than half of the passenger volumes of a pre-Covid summer season.
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