Post by ferryfast admin on Apr 18, 2011 11:42:21 GMT -5
Eurotunnel cruises past ferry operators in cross-channel market
Operator claims rising fuel prices have helped it beat ferries to control 50% of 'short straits' travel market
* Dan Milmo
* guardian.co.uk, Monday 18 April 2011 11.22 BST
* www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/apr/18/eurotunnel-ferry-operators-cross-channel-market
Cross-channel tourists are losing their sea legs, Eurotunnel has claimed, after the company said rising fuel prices have pushed it ahead of ferry operators in the UK-to-France travel market.
Despite the punitive euro exchange rate, the continent remains a popular holiday destination and France is the second most visited overseas destination behind Spain, with most opting to cross the channel rather than fly.
Eurotunnel claimed in first quarter results on Monday that it now controls more than 50% of the "short straits" market in which it battles head-to-head with the likes of P&O Ferries. The business, which escaped bankruptcy in recent years, carries car passengers and freight on its rail shuttles and earns revenues from Eurostar which uses the 31-mile tunnel for its rail services.
Eurotunnel said the number of cars, motorcycles and caravans transported on its passenger shuttles grew by 7% in the first three months of the year to just under 400,000 vehicles, while Eurostar traffic grew by 8% to more than 2.1 million people. A Eurotunnel spokesperson said the business had avoided passing higher fuel prices on to passengers and freight operators because its main sources of energy are nuclear and hydro electricity.
"When oil prices go up and travel companies who depend on oil are obliged to up their prices, Eurotunnel remains a very attractive option not only because its product is intrinsically green but its prices remain stable because it buys its energy from low-carbon sources." Revenues rose 24% to €179.2m (£158m), boosted by the acquisition last summer of the GB Railfreight business.
However, Eurotunnel's closest competitor, P&O Ferries, questioned claims in the tunnel owner's statement that ferry owners are "having to apply fuel surcharges" for boats powered by "bunker fuels" - the dense fuel oil used by the shipping industry.
A spokesperson for P&O, whose ferries carry more than 8 million people a year between the UK and France, said fuel surcharges were built into long-term contracts with freight operators and coach-tour operators, but it did not impose similar levies on passengers. Instead, the cost of rising fuel prices is added directly on to tickets or food and drink prices onboard, said the spokesperson. "We try to claw it back through the general pricing and a whole raft of things such as food and beverages."
P&O said it still offered competitive fares, with a June return trip between Dover and Calais for a family of four, plus car, costing €118. The same trip on a Eurotunnel shuttle would cost £135, while on Eurostar it would cost £380 for a family of four to travel to and from Paris. Airlines offer flights between London and Paris but Eurostar now dominates that route, controlling three-quarters of the rail-air market between the English and French capitals. Eurostar carries 9.5 million people per year between London, Paris and Brussels and Germany's Deutsche Bahn hopes to add one million more passengers per year to the cross-channel rail market by launching a London-Frankfurt service at the end of 2013.
However, P&O added that, according to its own estimates, the cross-channel market is suffering a dip. It said the short-straits market for tourist vehicles slipped 6% in the first quarter but tourist traffic on its boats had grown by 4% as it took traffic off rivals. The ferry operator said it expected to outperform rivals after launching the "Spirit of Britain" jumbo ferry in January. The £160m boat has capacity for 2,000 people and 1,000 cars, dwarfing its competitors in the Channel market.
A P&O spokesperson said: "If you put something like that in the market you would expect it to provided a fillip. There would be something wrong if it didn't."
Operator claims rising fuel prices have helped it beat ferries to control 50% of 'short straits' travel market
* Dan Milmo
* guardian.co.uk, Monday 18 April 2011 11.22 BST
* www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/apr/18/eurotunnel-ferry-operators-cross-channel-market
Cross-channel tourists are losing their sea legs, Eurotunnel has claimed, after the company said rising fuel prices have pushed it ahead of ferry operators in the UK-to-France travel market.
Despite the punitive euro exchange rate, the continent remains a popular holiday destination and France is the second most visited overseas destination behind Spain, with most opting to cross the channel rather than fly.
Eurotunnel claimed in first quarter results on Monday that it now controls more than 50% of the "short straits" market in which it battles head-to-head with the likes of P&O Ferries. The business, which escaped bankruptcy in recent years, carries car passengers and freight on its rail shuttles and earns revenues from Eurostar which uses the 31-mile tunnel for its rail services.
Eurotunnel said the number of cars, motorcycles and caravans transported on its passenger shuttles grew by 7% in the first three months of the year to just under 400,000 vehicles, while Eurostar traffic grew by 8% to more than 2.1 million people. A Eurotunnel spokesperson said the business had avoided passing higher fuel prices on to passengers and freight operators because its main sources of energy are nuclear and hydro electricity.
"When oil prices go up and travel companies who depend on oil are obliged to up their prices, Eurotunnel remains a very attractive option not only because its product is intrinsically green but its prices remain stable because it buys its energy from low-carbon sources." Revenues rose 24% to €179.2m (£158m), boosted by the acquisition last summer of the GB Railfreight business.
However, Eurotunnel's closest competitor, P&O Ferries, questioned claims in the tunnel owner's statement that ferry owners are "having to apply fuel surcharges" for boats powered by "bunker fuels" - the dense fuel oil used by the shipping industry.
A spokesperson for P&O, whose ferries carry more than 8 million people a year between the UK and France, said fuel surcharges were built into long-term contracts with freight operators and coach-tour operators, but it did not impose similar levies on passengers. Instead, the cost of rising fuel prices is added directly on to tickets or food and drink prices onboard, said the spokesperson. "We try to claw it back through the general pricing and a whole raft of things such as food and beverages."
P&O said it still offered competitive fares, with a June return trip between Dover and Calais for a family of four, plus car, costing €118. The same trip on a Eurotunnel shuttle would cost £135, while on Eurostar it would cost £380 for a family of four to travel to and from Paris. Airlines offer flights between London and Paris but Eurostar now dominates that route, controlling three-quarters of the rail-air market between the English and French capitals. Eurostar carries 9.5 million people per year between London, Paris and Brussels and Germany's Deutsche Bahn hopes to add one million more passengers per year to the cross-channel rail market by launching a London-Frankfurt service at the end of 2013.
However, P&O added that, according to its own estimates, the cross-channel market is suffering a dip. It said the short-straits market for tourist vehicles slipped 6% in the first quarter but tourist traffic on its boats had grown by 4% as it took traffic off rivals. The ferry operator said it expected to outperform rivals after launching the "Spirit of Britain" jumbo ferry in January. The £160m boat has capacity for 2,000 people and 1,000 cars, dwarfing its competitors in the Channel market.
A P&O spokesperson said: "If you put something like that in the market you would expect it to provided a fillip. There would be something wrong if it didn't."