Freight helping ferry fightback

Ferry lines - including Stena from its Irish Sea base at Holyhead - are fighting back against competition from budget airlines.

New figures show the decline in the number of journeys made by ferry passengers has halted this year.

Stena Line has enjoyed a boom in freight traffic on its Irish Sea central corridor routes from Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire and Dublin over the past five years but passenger traffic had been steadily slipping in recent years - caused in part by travellers opting for cheap fares offered by no-frills airlines.

Budget airlines were blamed when Stena announced earlier this year it was cutting some of its high-speed ferry services from Holyhead, although sailings of the Stena Adventurer superferryfrom the port were not affected.

Stena's central corridor route director Vic Goodwin said: "Over the last few years we have seen a decline in passenger numbers due mainly to competition from airlines. However, we have experienced achange in that trend this year.

Holyhead - Dun Laoghaire

1 x Foot Passenger(s) Return

Travelling on: 05/06/2012 - 06/06/2012

£32

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Harwich - Hook of Holland

Car + 2 Return

Travelling on: 28/09/2012 - 02/10/2012

£141

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Harwich - Hook of Holland

Car + 4 Return

Travelling on: 28/09/2012 - 02/10/2012

£190

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* Prices are "from prices" and are indicative only

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