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Last Chance to Book Brittany Ferries Autumn Getaway

14th September 2013
Last Chance to Book Brittany Ferries Autumn Getaway

#BrittanyFerries – Brittany Ferries this year celebrate 35 years of Cork-Roscoff service currently served by flagship Pont-Aven, which every weekend makes a round-trip up to early November, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Pont-Aven arrives every Saturday morning and departs in the afternoon bound for Breton port which is a 14 hour crossing.

The luxuriously appointed Pont-Aven has top-class facilities and where French chefs and friendly bi-lingual staff all add to create a typically Gallic and chic atmosphere on board.

Brittany Ferries are offering an early autumn break. Book now and enjoy 6 days in France from €338 return for a car plus two passengers including cabin each way - the equivalent of just €169 per person return.

But hurry...as bookings are to be made by tomorrow (15 September) for travel dates up to 26 October 2013. For further details visit: www.brittanyferries.ie/6-day-late-summer-autumn-getaway

The Irish-French route began operations in 1978 firstly served by the Armorique, followed by Quiberon, Bretagne and Val de Loire.

 

Published in Brittany Ferries
Jehan Ashmore

About The Author

Jehan Ashmore

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Jehan Ashmore is a marine correspondent, researcher and photographer, specialising in Irish ports, shipping and the ferry sector serving the UK and directly to mainland Europe. Jehan also occasionally writes a column, 'Maritime' Dalkey for the (Dalkey Community Council Newsletter) in addition to contributing to UK marine periodicals. 

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About Brittany Ferries

In 1967 a farmer from Finistère in Brittany, Alexis Gourvennec, succeeded in bringing together a variety of organisations from the region to embark on an ambitious project: the aim was to open up the region, to improve its infrastructure and to enrich its people by turning to traditional partners such as Ireland and the UK. In 1972 BAI (Brittany-England-Ireland) was born.

The first cross-Channel link was inaugurated in January 1973, when a converted Israeli tank-carrier called Kerisnel left the port of Roscoff for Plymouth carrying trucks loaded with Breton vegetables such as cauliflowers and artichokes. The story, therefore, begins on 2 January 1973, 24 hours after Great Britain's entry into the Common Market (EEC).

From these humble beginnings however, Brittany Ferries as the company was re-named quickly opened up to passenger transport, then became a tour operator.

Today, Brittany Ferries has established itself as the national leader in French maritime transport: an atypical leader, under private ownership, still owned by a Breton agricultural cooperative.

Eighty five percent of the company’s passengers are British.

Key Brittany Ferries figures:

  • Turnover: €202.4 million (compared with €469m in 2019)
  • Investment in three new ships, Galicia plus two new vessels powered by cleaner LNG (liquefied natural gas) arriving in 2022 and 2023
  • Employment: 2,474 seafarers and shore staff (average high/low season)
  • Passengers: 752,102 in 2020 (compared with 2,498,354 in 2019)
  • Freight: 160,377 in 2020 (compared with 201,554 in 2019)
  • Twelve ships operating services that connect France, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain (non-Covid year) across 14 routes
  • Twelve ports in total: Bilbao, Santander, Portsmouth, Poole, Plymouth, Cork, Rosslare, Caen, Cherbourg, Le Havre, Saint-Malo, Roscoff
  • Tourism in Europe: 231,000 unique visitors, staying 2.6 million bed-nights in France in 2020 (compared with 857,000 unique visitors, staying 8,7 million bed-nights in 2019).