Brittany Ferries moves re-start date of Cork-France route to summer

The Brittany Ferries Cork to France passenger service will not be resuming at the end of March, the company has announced.

Due to the current travel restrictions, the ferry service said the route will be kept under review and it is anticipated that services will recommence in mid-May.

A statement from Brittany Ferries did say that Freight only sailings out of both Cork and Rosslare will continue as scheduled, but only 20 per cent of the company’s annual turnover comes from freight traffic. Around 80 per cent of annual income is generated by holidaymakers.

Brittany Ferries said the decision follows the continued stringent travel restrictions for passengers with only essential travel and is in line with the continuing suspension of a number of their other passenger services between the UK, France and Spain.

The company will contact customers who hold bookings on affected sailings, to offer alternative travel or a refund.

“Naturally we very much regret any inconvenience that these changes will cause our customers,” said Brittany Ferries’ CEO Christophe Mathieu.

“We had hoped for a return to service for all our routes in mid-March, but the reality is that most people are simply unable to travel at this time. Booking levels are extremely low and we are relying on loans to carry us through this difficult period. It is therefore simply not viable to run loss-making routes at this time.” 

But we continue to monitor the health and travel situation in all our markets – UK, Ireland, France and Spain. 

"As soon as our customers can travel again, we will be there for them. We are also pushing governments to set out a pragmatic, co-ordinated and clear roadmap to safely re-open travel as soon as the health situation permits. 

"We believe that the ramp-up of vaccines means that this re-opening could be considered sooner rather than later.”