The boss of Brittany Ferries has called on the French government not to impose reciprocal quarantine plans on Brits travelling to France saying it will add to what has already been a “disastrous” summer for businesses.
Christophe Mathieu, the firm’s director general, said Brittany Ferries is now lobbying French ministers at the highest levels to avoid the implementation of reciprocal quarantine measures following the UK’s decision to impose a 14-day lockdown on travellers coming to Britain from France.
Mr Mathieu said that in a normal year the company carries about 2.6million passnegers, of which 85% are British. Any move that might cause more Brits to cancel their travel plans would hurt Brittany Ferries and the regions it serves, particularly the tourism sector in Brittany and Normandy, he stressed/
Mr Mathieu said: “This has already been a disastrous summer season for us and all the businesses in north west France that rely on the friendly British invasion each summer.
“It is why we are lobbying hard with our regional colleagues for government to drop reciprocal quarantine plans. If such measures are implemented it would be an exercise in self-harm for France plc, damaging our business, as well as those of thousands of others in the regions we serve.”
Mr Mathieu has already called the UK Government’s extension of quarantine restrictions to people coming back from France “bad news”.
But he said it might not stop people going abroad on holiday and that despite quarantine restrictions many of those that can travel are making “an informed decision to do so”.
The company has continued to serve Spanish destinations through quarantine to that country during the past three weeks.
Since quarantine was imposed on those returning from Spain, Brittany Ferries has continued to run services connecting Portsmouth and Plymouth with Santander and Bilbao.
In that time only one in five customers had chosen to either cancel or change their holiday plans, the firm said. The majority have carried on sailing, the company revealed.
Brittany Ferries said travellers are now aware of Covid-19 risks and are better able to make informed decisions about mitigating against them at home or abroad.
But it stressed “further obstacles” would only serve to dissuade many of those who could travel from doing so.
It was estimated that 160,000 Brits were sunning themselves in la Republique at the time the quarantine was announced.
The UK Government imposed a 14-day isolation period for everyone arriving back in the country from France after 4am on Saturday, August 15.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the decision to call for a quarantine was triggered when the rate of infection in France – and also in the Netherlands, Monaco, Malta, Turks and Caicos, and Aruba, which are included in the quarantine - exceeded 20 cases per 100,000 people over seven days.
Brittany Ferries said it understands quarantine may be a tool to combat the spread of Covid-19, but it believes measures must always be proportional to the risk, enabling people to travel to and from lower risk areas within different countries this summer.
Brittany Ferries had expected to carry around 240,000 passengers this summer. That compares with about 780,000 for a normal year, a consequence of lockdowns, restrictions on travel and capacity limits on ships.
The company has warned of potential changes to schedules at the end of the summer, if forward demand falls to levels that means services become unsustainable.
