Brittany Ferries will beef up its schedule of services out of Ireland from March next year in response to an increased demand from hauliers, the company said on Thursday.
The French shipping group said a once weekly Rosslare to Cherbourg operation will begin from 2021 while a third Cork to Roscoff service will be added.
The company also offers a Rosslare to Bilbao service twice weekly.
The Armorique and Pont Aven ships will service the Cork route while the no-frills Connemara vessel will operate on the Rosslare routes starting from March next year.
Brittany Ferries suspended services for passengers at the earlier part of the Covid-19 pandemic although all routes resumed service at the beginning of this month.
The company ordinarily operates 12 ships connecting France, Ireland, the UK and Spain. It carries between 2.5 million and 2.7 million passengers each year in about 900,00 cars and transports 205,400 freight units annually.
The company said its move to offer more services from the Republic demonstrates its commitment to Ireland “despite ongoing uncertainty over travel restrictions and quarantine requirements this season, and the effect this is having on service viability”.
