The international travel market was the first victim of the coronavirus crisis. DFDS quickly adapted on-board operations to the measures introduced by governments and recommended by WHO and national health authorities to keep operating. However, as borders gradually closed to travellers, there were no alternatives to suspending sailings on our Copenhagen – Oslo and Amsterdam – Newcastle routes and reduce passenger operations on our Channel services and in the Baltic Sea.
“This has been tough on our crews and staff and many are now on temporary leave. Therefore, while we wait for the coronavirus crisis to pass, we should remind ourselves of the benefits of having both freight and passenger services. We saw it in 2008, when the financial crisis hit our freight volumes, and our passenger business, which was less hit, kept results up. Today, with dramatically reduced passenger services, we see freight continuing business,” says Peder Gellert, EVP and Head of the Ferry Division.
“We should also not forget that we have a strong business in the Channel and in the Baltic, because we combine freight and passenger services on board. There is no doubt that this combination makes the routes stronger and more profitable than they would have been as freight-only routes. This will be further stimulated when we receive our new ro-pax ferries, which are under construction in China. In this context, our two cruise routes, with their much bigger passenger business, provide us with a strong basis for developing the passenger business in line with new trends and models. Therefore, it is imperative that we have solid plans for a fast recovery of our passenger operations once the coronavirus crisis wears off and borders open up again,” he says.
Planning for reopening of cruise routes started
Kasper Moos, Head of Short Routes and Passenger, has already put together a team to start work with planning the BU’s reopening of our Copenhagen – Oslo and Amsterdam – Newcastle routes.
“There are many uncertainties. We don’t know exactly when the national travel restrictions will be lifted and markets are right for us to start sailing again. Unfortunately, this may take a while. We must also prepare ourselves for the fact that the COVID-19 virus has changed our customers’ preferences and behaviours. Therefore, the team is working on preparing the routes for getting the most out of the new market we may be facing after the coronavirus crisis,” says Kasper.
“We do not anticipate a big-bang restart. Rather, we expect a gradual start with an initial focus on certain passenger groups. Our assumption is that initially, there will be a higher demand for holiday travel and other travel than for short cruise trips with on-board events and experiences,” he says.
“Even a well-planned, controlled and gradual restart will not remove all the uncertainties which the coronavirus crisis has created – and still is creating – for us. But those two routes were profitable and contributed positively to the Group before the suspension, and our starting point is fantastic. The way you all contributed to dealing with the situation when we were still operating, and the way you contributed to closing down the business shows me that as a team, we are capable of starting up a profitable business fast. As I said when we closed down the Oslo – Copenhagen route: I am weeping with one eye because we had to suspend the routes, and I am smiling with the other eye as I can’t wait to get back to work with you.”
Passenger capacity needed in the Baltic
Similar to the Channel, the Baltic Sea ferry services have accompanied traffic and need their passenger facilities for this.
“When the Baltic countries introduced entry restrictions, we saw a great number of Baltic nationals returning home at the beginning of the crisis. Furthermore, the Baltic governments followed the same trend as other countries by allowing drivers to cross the border to maintain efficient supply chains. And with a reduced number of travellers, we use the unused passenger capacity to improve the way we accommodate drivers – and thus limit the spread of the virus,” says Anders Refsgaard, Head of BU Baltic.
He says: “I am really proud of everyone on the Baltic Sea routes, where the flexibility of our staff has ensured that we maintained a strong traffic for a long time. And when the Polish border produced long queues of lorries, we demonstrated just how important our sea routes and passenger facilities are for connecting countries and businesses throughout the Baltics. This also demonstrates how useful the additional passenger capacities of our new ships from China will be to us from the day they arrive.”
