Brittany Ferries has confirmed cuts to its scheduled services following the imposition of quarantine restrictions on travellers arriving in the UK from France.

Having spoken out against the measures, the company said it had seen 35,000 passengers either cancel or delay travel plans in the past week.

Forward demand for autumn sailings is also extremely weak, Brittany Ferries added.

As a consequence, the line said it had been forced to change schedules, with the first changes applying from the end of August.

The following ships and route amendments have now been confirmed:

• Armorique will be laid up from August 31st. She currently serves the Plymouth to Roscoff route.
• Pont-Aven will replace Armorique on the Plymouth to Roscoff route from September 10th 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 7th. She currently serves the Portsmouth to St Malo route.
• Etretat will not resume crossings, as planned: Connemara will continue to operate the Cherbourg and Le Havre rotations from Portsmouth, but will no longer serve Spain.

“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 Christophe Mathieu, director general Brittany Ferries.

“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.

“These extraordinary decisions are regrettable, and we apologise in advance to all those whose travel plans will be disrupted.”

Around 50,000 passengers with existing bookings will be affected by the schedule changes.