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Huge demand for ferries thanks to volcanic ash cloud

Yesterday (April 15th) was one of the busiest days seen for many years outside of the summer holidays for the UK's ferry operators. With flights grounded until at least 01:00 Saturday morning (17th) ferries are once again proving to be the best option for many stranded by the complete airspace closure.

Ferry operators benefited from significant increases in demand yesterday, especially on cross-Channel services and those across the Irish Sea. Chief executive of Fastnet Line, Phil Jones, who operate between Swansea and Cork spoke of an "uplift" in bookings, and Irish Ferries and Stena Line also reported surges in enquiries and bookings. It was a similar story on the Channel, where P&O announced an extra service between Dover and Calais this evening, and all operators saw packed ferries with the big increase in passenger numbers.

With much of the UK's airspace closed until the early hours of Saturday as the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland continues to cause disruption there are still many ferry services with room left to take those needing to travel. Many of the operators with ferries to France, ferries to Ireland and ferries to the Netherlands are reporting that tickets still available, even as they struggle with the huge increase in enquiries. There were also many travellers looking to book the Brittany Ferries ferry service from Santander yesterday as they looked to return from Spain.

The unprecedented closure of all of the UK's airspace running into a second day means another exceptionally busy day for the ferry operators, whose booking systems may occasionally run more slowly than normal due to the extra demand. As a result please bear with us if you find that occasionally aferry.co.uk's ferry booking systems take longer than might be expected.