For the half a million Britons present in France, this Friday was the last chance to return to their country in order to avoid the surprise quarantine imposed by the government and which will come into force from Saturday at 5 a.m. (Paris time). ).
As soon as the British government announced it late Thursday evening, Air France observed an increase in reservations to the United Kingdom. His three London-Heathrow flights were full on Friday, as were those to Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester and Newscastle.
Ditto at Eurostar, whose eight Paris-London trains filled up during the day, at a minimum price of 241 euros one way in the morning (between 25% and 182% more compared to the following days).
Eurostar overwhelmed by "high traffic"
The company tweeted this Friday to know a "strong influx of passengers" and asked that only passengers with a valid ticket come to the station.
Our trains to the UK are very busy today. We ask you to come to the station only if you have a valid ticket for one of the trains running today.
- Eurostar (@Eurostar) August 14, 2020At London's Saint Pancras International Station, at the other end of the Eurostar tracks, travelers were very few in line to go to Paris, which is almost deserted.
Regarding the Channel Tunnel, Eurotunnel announced this Friday that all the shuttles were full until Saturday morning.
Due to the recent Government announcement, our shuttles are now fully booked until tomorrow morning. There is no more ticket availability, and we are not selling tickets at check-in. Please do not arrive at the terminal unless you have a ticket valid for travel today. ^ Vincent pic.twitter.com/aOcjMKLL41
- Eurotunnel Le Shuttle (@LeShuttle) August 14, 2020In Calais (Pas-de-Calais), the port's ferry companies have announced that they will increase their passenger transport capacity. “The capacities will be increased from 500 to 750 passengers by ferry,” explains the port's communications department, specifying that DFDS, one of the companies, had already “doubled its reservations”.
DOVER-FRANCE SERVICES | We have now added an additional four extra departures from Calais to help repatriate customers on the Continent. To travel with us, bookings must be made before arriving at the port. To book, please visit: https://t.co/YTWRn0YmaC https://t.co/6bWQzI5X2t
- DFDS UK (@dfds_uk) August 14, 2020Newsletter - Most of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le ParisienI'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to enable you to receive our news and commercial offers. Learn more
At the Breton Britanny Ferries, which offered seven trips to England on Friday, the news arrived too late to organize new rotations. "Our boats are almost full, it is especially important not that people come to the ports if they do not have a reservation", warned the general manager Christophe Mathieu.
"A new blow" for tourism
The air transport sector has unsurprisingly expressed its dissatisfaction in the United Kingdom, especially since it relied on the summer season to revive. The quarantine imposed on France is in addition to that relating to Spain, a particularly popular destination for the British.
British airlines association Airlines UK spoke of a "devastating new blow", instead calling for a test-on-arrival policy "so that those who test negative can avoid confinement".
A measure of reciprocity on the part of France?
Around 160,000 holidaymakers are due to return from the UK to France, according to the UK government, not counting those who were planning to cross the Channel in the coming weeks. And some of the 300,000 French people living in the United Kingdom take advantage of the summer to travel to their country.
France warned that the measure would result in "a reciprocity measure", potentially affecting residents in France currently on British soil.
The United Kingdom, the country in Europe most affected by the virus, deplores more than 41,000 deaths and wants to avoid the importation of new cases while it is experiencing a resurgence itself.
