News
Brittany Ferries sails into ’25
- Western Channel and Bay of Biscay ferry operator is now taking bookings through till November 2025
- Up to 110 weekly sailings linking UK to France & Spain in 2025
- 2025 timetables confirm arrival dates for new cleaner and greener cruise-ferries Saint-Malo and Guillaume de Normandie
- Two new ships, combined with growing demand for pet travel, drive early sales surge
Ferry operator Brittany Ferries has published its 2025 timetables and is now taking bookings for ferry crossings to western France and northern Spain right through until 2nd November 2025.
In 2025 the company will operate up to 98 weekly cross-Channel sailings linking the south coast ports of Portsmouth, Poole and Plymouth direct to St Malo and Roscoff in Brittany, and to Caen, Cherbourg and Le Havre in Normandy.
It will also offer up to 12 weekly long-haul overnight sailings linking Portsmouth and Plymouth direct to Santander and Bilbao in northern ‘green’ Spain.
On the first day of bookings the company saw a surge of interest, with nearly 7,000 customers reserving a trip. That’s 18 per cent up on the previous year’s opening day, making it the busiest day for reservations in Brittany Ferries’ history. The company attributes the spike to the introduction of two highly-anticipated new hybrid electric ships arriving early next year, as well as to an increasing demand for pet-friendly travel.
New ships, and lower emissions on the horizon
The first of the two brand new sistership cruiseferries, named Saint-Malo will enter service on 12th February 2025. Replacing Brittany Ferries’ veteran Bretagne it will serve the Portsmouth to St Malo route. The second new ferry, named Guillaume de Normandie will join the Portsmouth to Caen (Ouistreham) route on 18th April 2025, sailing three times a day. She’ll replace long-serving workhorse Normandie, and will operate the route in tandem with fleet mate Mont St Michel.
Saint-Malo and Guillaume de Normandie will be the first ferries on the English Channel to be powered by hybrid-Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)-electric propulsion. They’ll each be equipped with the largest batteries of any ferry in the world, with a capacity of 11.3 MWh. This hybrid technology will deliver reduced emissions throughout the voyage, but especially when manoeuvring in port when the ships will operate on battery power alone.
Additionally, when alongside they will be capable of plugging into shore-based power supplies, where port infrastructure allows. Their home port of Portsmouth will be the first Channel ferry port to offer this capability from spring 2025, as part of Portsmouth International Port’s pioneering ‘Sea Change’ project. Brittany Ferries estimates that by plugging in on both sides of the Channel, its ships will reduce their emissions by around 15 per cent. And the new ships will automatically become even greener in the future, as they are designed to run on sustainable maritime fuels like e-methane when these become available in sufficient quantities.
More room for pets in 2025
Both ships have been purpose-built for the routes and passengers they will serve, and this includes dogs! In a first for the Portsmouth to St Malo route, Saint-Malo will offer 28 pet-friendly cabins, while Guillaume de Normandie will offer 22 on sailings between Portsmouth and Caen. This will bring to seven the number of Brittany Ferries ships offering pet-friendly cabins, with a total of 163 pet-friendly cabins fleet-wide.
These cabins all feature easy access from the garage deck, a hygienic laminate floor, and convenient access to a dedicated pet promenade area on the outside decks. It’s a facility that’s increasingly demanded by Brittany Ferries’ customers: the company now carries 100,000 dogs every year, and on the first day of 2025 sales, 50 per cent of bookings included a pet, and 46 per cent included a pet-friendly cabin.
The ships will also offer a wider range of de-luxe cabin grades, and in a first for Brittany Ferries they will also offer cabins especially furnished for passengers with allergies.
Paul Acheson, Brittany Ferries’ director sales and marketing said:
“We’re delighted to make our 2025 sailings available, allowing customers to put their travel plans in place for next winter, spring and summer. By booking now, they’ll enjoy the best choice of sailings, and the first pick of cabins, especially the most sought after types such as de luxes and pet-friendlies.
“Our 2025 schedule launch has been our busiest ever, and it’s exciting to see so much interest already in our two brand new cruise-ferries Saint-Malo and Guillaume de Normandie. We look forward to revealing more details about these two new ships in the coming weeks and months. But they’re on schedule and now open for bookings, and we’re looking forward to welcoming aboard their first customers next spring.”
The new timetables are available now at brittany-ferries.co.uk. Customers can book either online, or over the phone with Brittany Ferries Plymouth-based contact centre on 0330 159 7000.
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About Brittany Ferries
Brittany Ferries was conceived in 1972, starting life as a freight-only ferry-service on 2nd January the following year. The first vessel (Kerisnel) linked Roscoff in Brittany with Plymouth in the south-west of England and carried a cargo of cauliflowers and cognac. Since then the company has progressively launched, then strengthened its shipping routes. In more than 50 years of service, millions of passengers and businesses have travelled by sea across the so-called Atlantic Arc (France, UK, Spain and Ireland). They rely on the links forged by more than five decades of experience. In addition to cutting congestion and emissions on busy roads, Brittany Ferries’ motorways-of the sea have helped enrich local communities, creating jobs, nurturing international tourism and boosting cross-border trade.
Press contacts – Brittany Ferries:
Nigel Wonnacott [email protected]
Christopher Jones [email protected]