Ferries take on no-frills carriers

The ferry industry is plotting a plan of attack against no-frills carriers in a bid to win back customers. The Passenger Shipping Association (PSA), spearheading the initiative, launched a website this autumn – www.sailanddrive.com. Consumers can make bookings through the website with PSA members including Hoverspeed, Britanny Ferries, Irish Ferries, SeaCat, StenaLine, DFDS, SeaFrance and various P&O ferry services. SeaFrance managing director and ex-PSA chairman, Robin Wilkins told TravelMole: “We want to take some of the media interest away from budget airlines, which have had the scene to themselves for too long. The website is aimed at boosting the concept of ferry travel.” He said bookings through the trade were crucial to ferries. “We still get a substantial amount of business through the trade and we pay a commission which by and large low cost carriers don’t”, he said. Mr Wilkins said the ferry industry was previously growing by about 3% every year, but says the combination of the abolition of duty free in 1999 and the increasing competition from no-frills carriers means growth has been slowed, particularly on short routes like Dover-Calais. He predicts the industry will grow about 1% this year. “There are a lot of people who haven’t ever been on a ferry and there is a young generation that has been fed only on a diet of air travel” he said. “The airlines have had it too easy for too long in terms of misleading advertising. I think people at one time believed the fare advertised was the fare they’d pay but taxes conveniently get forgotten and it is often difficult to get to the destination without incurring incidental costs.” Mr Wilkins says you can’t compare ferry prices to air fares because it is not comparing like for like. He said: “Our fares are not comparable [to no-frills airline fares] because ferry is a different type of transport – we are transporting a vehicle.” He said SeaFrance was fundamentally about transporting people with cars, adding that foot passengers were a small percentage of his business. Mr Wilkins added: “Most ferry companies are offering flexible pricing as a result of increased competition. “People who are planning to travel should investigate the ferry option without just blindly booking an airline.” In a bid to increase the profile of ferries, the PSA has also appointed political lobbyists, AS Biss & Co to try to push the ferry industry up the government’s agenda.