Brittany Ferries plots recovery after ‘dreadful’ year

Brittany Ferries, which has routes to and from the Republic of Ireland to France and Spain, saw turnover more than halve in 2020 with less than 20,000 passengers travelling on its Irish services.

The company said just 19,822 passengers travelled on its Rosslare and Cork routes last year, versus 120,193 a year earlier.

However, freight figures were up on the prior year, rising from 6,377 units to 7,250.

The ferry operator, which also operates services from Britain to France and Spain, described 2020 as a “dreadful” year for the company due to the impact of Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic.

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The company, which relies on passenger traffic for as much as 80 per cent of income, said revenues fell 57 per cent last year to €202.4 million, versus €469 million in 2019.

Passenger volumes slumped by 70 per cent to 752,102 versus 2.5 million a year earlier.

In terms of freight it carried 160,377 units, down 20 per cent on the previous year’s tally of 201,554.

Independent research the company commissioned indicates that it should be back to 2019 volumes by 2020.

"There is no doubt 2021 will be another tough year for our company. However, we will continue on the path to recovery, taking tough decisions if necessary but encouraged by the findings of this independent report which show the market is ready to bounce back," said chief executive Christophe Mathieu.