News
Fast Channel sailings are back
- Brittany Ferries resumes Western Channel fast ferry sailings for 2022
- Service resumes to meet post-pandemic travel demand
- Travellers can sail to Cherbourg in just three hours
For 2022, French ferry company Brittany Ferries is restoring its fast UK to France cross-Channel ferry route. The summer service – the fastest on the Western Channel – was suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic.
From late May until early September 2022, the Normandy port of Cherbourg will be linked with the south coast ports of Portsmouth in Hampshire and Poole in Dorset, with weekend departures linking the UK and France in just 2 hours 30 minutes.
The fast service, will operate from 27th May – 5th June and form 15th July – 4th September on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. It will depart from Portsmouth at 07:00, arriving at Cherbourg at 11:00. A return service will depart Cherbourg at 11:45, arriving at Poole at 13:15.
The sailings will be operated on Brittany Ferries’ behalf by Condor Ferries using its fast ferry Condor Liberation.
The service will complement Brittany Ferries’ conventional car-ferry sailings from Poole to Cherbourg which will resume on 28th March 2022, having also been suspended in 2020 due to reduced demand during the pandemic.
Paul Acheson, sales and marketing director, Brittany Ferries said:
“As we emerge from Covid-19, we’re delighted to restore choice and flexibility for our customers as they make their cross-Channel travel plans for 2022.
“Demand is now roaring back, and we’re ready to meet it. Condor Liberation will offer passengers on our shorter routes to Cherbourg additional flexibility and choice.
“This will complement our conventional service operated by Barfleur on the Poole-Cherbourg route, and our overnight sailings from Portsmouth to Cherbourg with our newest ships Galicia and Salamanca.”
Condor Liberation carries 850 passengers and 200 cars. A wide range of onboard facilities comes as standard. The ship offers several spacious open seating lounges, meanwhile for an extra fee, a Club Lounge is available offering luxurious reclining seats, free Wi-Fi, and complimentary hot drinks. Condor Liberation also offers an extensive duty-free shop, bistro café and bars.
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About Brittany Ferries
Brittany Ferries was conceived in 1972, starting life as a freight-only service on 2nd January the following year. The first sailing linked Roscoff in Brittany with Plymouth in the South of England and carried a cargo of artichokes and cauliflowers. Since then the company has progressively launched, then strengthened shipping routes. Today millions of passengers and businesses transporting goods by sea across the so-called Atlantic Arc (France, UK, Spain and Ireland) rely on the links forged through six decades of operation. In addition to cutting congestion and emissions on busy roads, these motorways-of the sea have helped enrich local communities, creating jobs and nurturing international tourism.
More details here: https://corporate.brittany-ferries.com/en/press.aspx
Key figures (2020)
- Revenue: €202.4 million (€469 million in 2019)
- Fleet renewal: Four new vessels on the horizon, two powered by LNG entering service in 2022 and 2023; two LNG-hybrid powered ships arriving in the years that follow
- Employment: 2,474 employees, including 1,600 seafarers (full-time equivalent)
- Passengers: 752,102 in 2020 (2,498,354 in 2019)
- Freight: 160,377 in 2020 (201,554 in 2019)
- 12 vessels connecting France, the United Kingdom, Spain and Ireland, via 14 maritime routes
- 12 ports: Roscoff, Saint-Malo, Cherbourg, Caen, Le Havre, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Poole, Cork, Rosslare, Santander, Bilbao.
- Tourist impact: 231,000 unique visitors to France, generating 2.6 million overnight stays in 2020 (857,000 in 2019 with 8.7 million overnight stays in 2019)
Press contacts
- Nigel Wonnacott [email protected]
- Christopher Jones [email protected]