New P&O fares signal Channel price war
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.THE FIRST signs of a price war on the Channel emerged yesterday when P & O, the market leader, announced that it would not be increasing its fares for Dover-Calais next year.
P & O, which has about 60 per cent of the cross-Channel market, is attempting to pre- empt fares announcements by rival ferry operators and, more significantly, Eurotunnel.
On routes which will be less affected by competition from the tunnel, P & O has increased fares: Portsmouth- Le Havre is up by 3 per cent, Portsmouth-Cherbourg by 5 per cent and Portsmouth- Bilbao by 5 per cent.
Fares on the Dover-Calais route for a car and up to eight passengers range from pounds 139 at off-peak times to a summer maximum of pounds 320. P & O expects to carry a record 14 million passengers and about 2.8 million cars this year on its six main Channel and North Sea routes.
Britanny ferries is expected to announce its fares within a couple of weeks, and Stena Sealink will follow suit later this autumn.
In previous years, the first brochures have often been pre-emptive strikes in fares wars, but P & O said yesterday: 'We're printing 700,000 copies of this one, which shows that we are committed to it.'
Last January, Eurotunnel announced broadly similar fares to those of the ferry companies for its cross-channel Le Shuttle service, but in the event the start of the service was delayed and the brochure was scrapped. Eurotunnel now hopes to start special services for its shareholders and bankers early next month, building up to a commercial service by the end of the year.
In the meantime, a Eurotunnel spokeswoman said last night: 'We will only be announcing our fares shortly before we start a commercial service.'
While both sides say they will avoid a price war, many analysts suggest that one is inevitable given that the tunnel will virtually double cross- Channel capacity.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments