An estimated 38.6m passengers and nearly 8.8m cars used ferry services between the UK, the near Continent and Ireland last year, with 38.6m passengers travelling by car, coach and on foot.

 

This growth is obviously good news for those operators whose routings will qualify them to reinstate duty free allowances, presuming this is all agreed as part of the UK’s expected new independent status once it leaves the European Union in a few year’s time.

 

It is also very relevant, since more passengers travel between the UK and France by ferry (14.6m) compared to flying (10.8m) according to the 2016 Ferrystat report, which includes analysis of CAA 2016 provisional data.

 

14.6M UK-FRANCE FERRY PAX – MORE THAN 10.8M BY PLANE

The industry’s promotional body, ‘Discover Ferries’ said ‘cars on ferry numbers’ rose from 8.6m in 2015 to nearly 8.8m last year, representing a 1.7% increase – the fourth successive year of growth according to official 2016 Ferrystat figures released by Discover Ferries.

 

According to this data, the growth in cars carried on ferries has seen an additional 473,000 vehicles over the past four years – compared to the 8.3m car crossings by sea in 2012.

 

Discover Ferries member ferry operators include Brittany Ferries, Caledonian MacBrayne, Condor Ferries, DFDS, Irish Ferries, Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, Isles of Scilly Steamship Group, NorthLink, P&O Ferries, Red Funnel, StenaLine and Wightlink.

 

Bill Gibbons, Director of Discover Ferries said: “Nearly 8.8m car journeys are now made by ferry within the UK and to the near Continent and Ireland with a total of 38.6m passengers travelling by car, coach and on foot.

 

 

“The sustained growth in car carryings is particularly good news for the sector as we see more people recognise the advantages of simply hopping into their own car and enjoying the flexibility, value and freedom of a break by sea, rather than the pressure of travelling through an airport.”

 

 

Discover Ferries confirmed that the biggest growth in ferry travel in 2016 came from an increase in domestic travel within the UK. Total passenger ferry journeys within the UK increased from 16m to 16.7m and the number of car carryings rose from 3.7m to 3.9m year-on-year.

 

The organisation stated: “Travel in Scotland, particularly in Western Scotland, performed particularly well in 2016 with the number of passengers travelling by ferry increasing from 5.9m to 6.5m, together with 1.79m cars.

 

HUGE POTENTIAL WHEN DUTY FREE ALLOWANCES ARE RESTORED

“The Isle of Man (557,000 passengers and 177,000 cars) and the Isle of Wight (8.8m passengers and 1.8m cars) also saw strong traffic. More than 300,000 people also visited the Channel Islands with 84,000 car journeys by sea last year.”

 

Discover Ferries added that ferry travel between Great Britain, Ireland and Northern Ireland also totalled 4.7m passengers last year and 1.2m cars (+1.3%).

 

As mentioned, more passengers travel between UK and France by ferry (14.6m) compared to flying (10.8m) with ferry travel accounting for one in ten travellers to Western Europe. Discover Ferries adds: “The Netherlands welcomed more than 1.8m passengers by sea in 2016, while Belgium and Spain both welcomed more than 310,000 and 320,000 respectively.”

 

Discover ferries adds that last year some 3.65m cars were carried on ferry routes between the UK and the near continent, with over two million travelling via Dover, one million via Western Channel ports (including Newhaven, Plymouth, Poole, Portsmouth and Weymouth) and a further 450,000 cars carried via Hull, Harwich and Newcastle.