Brittany Ferries is to take two two ships out of operation and cut services in response to the Government-imposed a two-week quarantine on people arriving in the 海角视频 from France.
The Plymouth headquartered company said 50,000 people who have already made bookings will be affected by the changes to services.
It said these alterations are now vital due to an expected decline in future passenger numbers which will make some service uneconomical to run.
The company is putting its Amorique vessel into dock and will only use the Pont-Aven to make trips between Plymouth and France and Spain. The ferry Bretagne, which sails out of Portsmouth, will also be laid up.
The company said that after 海角视频 quarantine rules were imposed for anyone arriving in the country from France after 4am on Saturday, August 15, it saw 35,000 customers either cancel or delay their travel plans to the Continent.
Christophe Mathieu, director general of Brittany Ferries, said the 14-day quarantine had an “immediate and profound impact on demand” with thousands of people going online to move bookings to later in the year or even 2021.
He has already called the 海角视频’s decision “bad news” for the company and passengers, and urged France not to follow suit. He has also appealed to the French government for tax breaks to help the firm.
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.
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But the measures have meant forward demand for autumn sailings is now extremely weak, according to Brittany Ferries, and it stressed it has been forced to change its schedules because some services are no longer economically viable.
The first changes applying from August 31. On that date the Armorique will be laid up, with the Pont-Aven replacing her on the Plymouth to Roscoff route from September 10 with three return trips per week.
Pont-Aven will also continue to operate one return sailing from Plymouth to Santander and from Roscoff to Cork during the week.
Bretagne will be laid up from September 7. She currently serves the Portsmouth to St Malo route.
Meanwhile, Etretat will not resume crossings, as planned, and Connemara will continue to operate the Cherbourg and Le Havre rotations from Portsmouth, but will no longer serve Spain.
About 50,000 passengers with existing bookings will be affected by the schedule changes and Brittany Ferries has apologised in advance for inconvenience and said will do all it can to accommodate displaced customers on other services.
It said its call centre is expected to be very busy in the days ahead. Passengers are asked to wait for notification of any change to their booking and – where possible – to make alternative arrangements via the My Booking facility on the firm’s website.
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“We warned over the weekend that schedule changes were likely, as quarantine measures have led to a significant drop in demand for our services,” said Mr Mathieu. “This is not something we want to do. However, in the context of a terrible summer season we have no choice but to consolidate sailings that, by virtue of lack of passenger numbers, are uneconomic to run.
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“These extraordinary decisions are regrettable and we apologise in advance to all those whose travel plans will be disrupted.”
Mr Mathieu has already warned that any reciprocal move by the French government would be a further blow for Brittany Ferries.
In an interview with French media he said the firm was “already down on one knee after the first period of lockdown, which was already extremely difficult” and is now faced with further restrictions for an unknown period.
He said that the company fears that beyond September-October, bookings will be very low, at least until spring 2021 - unless a vaccine or cure has been found.
“We are saying that the company is badly affected, that it will not be able to manage on its own,” he told French journalists while calling on the French government for tax breaks to help tide the company over.