Welcome back to our regular roundup of travel and transport news, here on ExpatsRadio.com. Whilst on the surface, the ferry industry looks pretty quiet at the moment, with no real public news since the official demise of SeaFrance at the beginning of January, much has been going on in the background – with frantic negotiations between unlikely bed-partners, initiatives from unexpected directions, and secret plans for imminent new services.
DFDS and its new French partner, LD Lines, are rumoured to be planning the launch of a Calais-Dover ferry service as early as this month, with two French-flagged vessels.
A DFDS spokesman has confirmed that they and LD Lines were looking at a joint venture with a February launch. It is thought that LD Lines’ Norman Spirit will be transferred to the Dover-Calais operation and will be joined by a second vessel drawn from the joint venture’s respective fleets.
“As soon as we have finalised the negotiations we have begun with the port authorities of Calais and Dover on operating agreements, we will start recruiting staff for the Calais-Dover crossing, with priority given to ex-SeaFrance workers,” said the DFDS spokesman.
DFDS already operates a Dunkirk-Dover service, after inheriting it from recently acquired Norfolk Lines, and the Danish group has made it clear that the Calais service “in no way” puts into doubt the future of this existing route.
“We have said from the outset that these two routes complement each other. From Dunkirk we can reach markets in northern Europe, and from Calais those to the south,” a spokesman said.
The LD-DFDS rush to launch the new service is perhaps a measure to “get in first” before a very unlikely player - Eurotunnel - finalises its own plans for a Calais-Dover ferry route. It is rumoured that Eurotunnel is interested in acquiring three of SeaFrance’s ferries – the Rodin, Berlioz and Nord Pas de Calais.
It is understood that Eurotunnel is planning on becoming the majority partner in a ferry venture with a co-operative of former SeaFrance workers who would operate the vessels, although no launch date has been announced.
DFDS-LD Lines’ imminent service launch might also be prompted by the fact that P&O Ferries are about to introduce the Spirit of France ferry which will join sister ship Spirit of Britain on P&O’s Dover-Calais route.
When asked about the rumours, a spokesman for LD Lines told ExpatsRadio: “Yes, LD and DFDS are still currently engaged in setting up a joint venture company and in discussions with ports of Calais and Dover to start up a service between Dover and Calais following SeaFrance’s demise. Can’t say exactly when it may begin, nor has anything official been announced yet, other than the intention.”
It is believed that P&O has also made enquiries about taking on the former SeaFrance ferries, the Rodin and Berlioz, even though the company has taken delivery of its second new €180 million ship, Spirit of France, as already briefly mentioned. Final preparations are now being made for the new ship to take up service on the Dover–Calais route from Thursday 9th February.
At more than 47,000 gross tons and 213 metres in length, Spirit of France, and sister ship Spirit of Britain which began service last year, are the largest ferries ever built for the Dover Strait. The combined cost of €360 million is the largest investment ever made by P&O Ferries.
Helen Deeble, chief executive, said: “This investment gives us the finest cross-Channel ferries ever commissioned for the Dover Strait and is a bold statement of our determination to continue to raise the bar in terms of the quality and comfort of ferry travel. I look forward to welcoming customers on board the first sailing of Spirit of France in due course.”
The ship arrived at Dover for the first time last week, following a four-day delivery voyage from her construction shipyard at Rauma, Finland.
Like its identical twin, the ship is capable of carrying 160 articulated lorries, which is twice the freight capacity of the vessel it is replacing. In addition, both can also carry up to 250 cars, caravans and motorhomes on a separate vehicle deck, or, without trucks, 1000 cars.
Passenger accommodation has a capacity for 2,000, and, says P&O, offers unrivalled levels of comfort and convenience - including luxuriously appointed lounges, bars and restaurants, plus a separate and extensive rest and relaxation facility for freight drivers complete with its own restaurant, showers, DVD seat back entertainment and a private outside deck.
Meanwhile, further west along the Channel, attention has turned to the health of Brittany Ferries, and its traditional services connecting French western Channel ports and Spain, with the UK and Ireland.
The company is understood to be looking forward to a break-even financial position after three years in the red. However, publication of official figures is not expected before March.
Brittany Ferries scaled-back its operations this winter, with the Barfleur ferry taken out of service on the Cherbourg-Poole crossing. No official announcement has yet been made about its return to the service. However, the company’s passenger and freight services from Portsmouth and Plymouth to Santander and Bilbao in northern Spain, are recording strong growth. During the past couple of years, Brittany Ferries has gone from three weekly round-trips to seven, and in 2011 traffic totalled 30,000 goods vehicles, 100,000 cars and 250,000 passengers.
Just to add a little more confusion to the overall picture of the current ferry market, in 2009 Brittany Ferries expressed an interest in acquiring SeaFrance, but nothing ever materialised.
But any problems that Brittany Ferries might be suffering are not stopping new promotional initiatives – including particularly cheap 60-hour return crossings for a car and passengers, and a new “gastronomic adventure” aboard the company’s flagship Pont-Aven from Portsmouth to St Malo.
In the ferry’s Le Flora restaurant passengers are treated to a gastronomic experience, including hors-d’oeuvres, starters, main course, dessert, and the obligatory cheese course! And after a night’s sleep on board, they enjoy a continental breakfast buffet.
Arriving in St Malo, passengers have time to work up another appetite by exploring the winding, cobbled streets of the walled old town, before a three course lunch reservation in the family run Le Café de l’Ouest. The offering includes a welcome aperitif and coffee, and features local highlights such as Cancale oysters, and mackerel in white wine.
After an afternoon exploring the area, passengers can then re-board the Pont-Aven any time after 6 pm for the night-time sailing back to Portsmouth. The cruises start from £95 per person including overnight cabin accommodation and meals.
Just to round off our extensive list of sea-bound news, it has been announced that Britain’s annual National Ferry Fortnight will take place between 17th and 31st March - earlier than the usual May slot to emphasise the great value of family ferry travel at a time when parents have a watchful eye on budgets, says industry body organisers, the Passenger Shipping Association.
Supported by all of the ferry line members of the PSA, the two week showcase was created to heighten consumer and media awareness of Britain’s extensive ferry services of over 50 routes.
“Continuous investment in modern, versatile fleets has meant that ferries form an important part of our transport infrastructure, with some 35 million people, eight million cars and 140,000 coaches carried by ferries in 2011,” says the PSA. Association members include Brittany Ferries; Condor Ferries; DFDS Seaways; Hovertravel; Isle Of Man Steam Packet Company: Irish Ferries; LD Lines; P&O Ferries; Red Funnel; Stena Line and Wightlink – all of which will take part in National Ferry Fortnight.
Central to the campaign will be a series of promotional offers on ferry routes to the Continent, Spain, Ireland and UK islands, which will be announced by the PSA nearer the date and promoted on the www.discoverferries.com website.
“Particularly for families, Britain’s ferry services offer a reliable, value for money and flexible way to travel” said PSA director Bill Gibbons, “Our ferry members are keen to bring forward the success of National Ferry Fortnight to March 2012 so families can plan and take advantage of a great range of opportunities presented by ferry companies.”
And now, briefly, on to airline news... some good and some bad. 20,000 passengers across Europe and Africa have been left stranded, or forced to find new flights, after the collapse of Spain's fourth-largest airline, Spanair.
Around 650 flights were suddenly cancelled after the company stopped operating last weekend. Spanair has announced that it intends to close down after the Spanish government revealed that it would not invest any more money in it as principal stockholder. The closure affects its 3,200 employees and 1,200 workers from NewCo, the handling company that has its own financial troubles.
On a more positive note, Jet2.com is celebrating after being crowned Best Short Haul Airline at the Globe Travel Awards 2012. The cream of the British travel industry gathered at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London last week for the ceremony where Jet2.com proudly beat bmi, British Airways, easyJet, Iberia and Lufthansa to win the Short Haul Airline category.
Steve Heapy, Chief Commercial Officer of Jet2.com, said: “We are delighted to be named Best Short Haul Airline at the Globe Travel Awards, beating the likes of British Airways and easyJet. This award follows a string of other award wins in recent months, making this a real highlight for us and a great start to the New Year.”
Recently, the company also picked up Best Low-Cost Airline in the Scottish Passenger Agents Association Awards, and was voted runner-up in the Best Short Haul Airline category of The Telegraph Travel Awards.
And finally... Nearly a third of all Brits miss their own bed the most when on holiday abroad,
according to a new survey by carhiremarket.com, with the Welsh missing it more than any other region!
Topping a list of what Brits miss the most when holidaying abroad is ‘their own bed’ (30%), followed by the convenience of tap water (17%). The top five list of the most missed, revealed by the poll of over 2,000 British adults, also includes missing out on favourite TV programmes (8%), and not being familiar with our surroundings, with ‘knowing my way around’ coming in at number four (7%). A decent morning cuppa was also important to holiday makers, with ‘my own teabags’ making it into the top five (5%).
According to the poll, the Welsh seem to be a nation of home comfort lovers, with 40% saying they miss their own bed the most. Those from the East Midlands are most likely to be craving a good old cup of English tea (7% higher than the national average), and it appears that the true British pub lovers of the UK are located in the North West, as residents from there are more likely to miss their local pub when jetting off to another country.
It’s the regular routine of the TV that those from Devon, Cornwall and Somerset areas miss more than any other region, with 13% of respondents in South West Britain saying they missed their favourite TV programmes when away - 5% above the national average.
Andrew Shorrock, Product Manager at an online car hire comparison site, carhiremarket.com, comments: “Our survey really does show that no matter how appealing a hot and sunny destination might be, us Brits really do savour our home comforts. You simply can’t beat your own bed, a nice cup of tea, or even your own car, according to 4% of men!”
That’s about it for this week, but join us again soon for another roundup of travel and transport news, here on ExpatsRadio.com. Until then happy travels – and don’t forget your teabags!
This programme was researched and written for ExpatsRadio.com by Peter Clayton
www.freelance-writing-services-normandy.co.uk
