Eurotunnel saved

It looks as though the financial problems of Eurotunnel are at last solved. A plan to convert the debt to shares (with the writing off of some of it) has now been approved by the Paris Commercial Court. This negotiation has been going on for the last couple of years, during which the shares have been suspended and thus have had in practice no value at all. No-one can tell what value they will have when restored in February but the danger of complete bankruptcy and loss of the Concession has been averted.

Monsieur Gounon has pulled off a feat of negotiation that I was sceptical he could do when he was first appointed. Praise to him.

With the debt down to a manageable amount - with the interest payable - the Tunnel can now compete with the ferries and airlines.

The last year has seen a useful increase in Eurostar passengers, helped by chaos at the airports in the Summer, increased pain of "security" checks and recent bad weather. From now on Eurostar pays per passenger and so the more they carry the more they pay to Eurotunnel.

As the ferries are not in fact profitable one wonders how long they can continue to screw prices down to below an economic value.
http://www.eurotunnel.com/ukcP3Main/ukc ... eguardPlan

Since Eurostar now pays per passenger, would that mean an increase in fare such that some of the potential gain in loadings will end up on those unprofitable ferries anyway?
And speaking of ferries, as I understand it the last of the Channel Hovercrafts was withdrawn (recently?) - I only bring it up due to a recent viewing (for the imnumerable time) of 1971's 'Diamonds are Forever', where the director definitely played up James Bond's crossing the channel by Hovercraft in his stolen car (with even a zoomed-in establishing shot of the 'Hovercraft' loading sign).
"If God had wanted man to skim, Mr Kidd..."

Sir Ray wrote:Since Eurostar now pays per passenger, would that mean an increase in fare such that some of the potential gain in loadings will end up on those unprofitable ferries anyway?
And speaking of ferries, as I understand it the last of the Channel Hovercrafts was withdrawn (recently?) - I only bring it up due to a recent viewing (for the imnumerable time) of 1971's 'Diamonds are Forever', where the director definitely played up James Bond's crossing the channel by Hovercraft in his stolen car (with even a zoomed-in establishing shot of the 'Hovercraft' loading sign).
"If God had wanted man to skim, Mr Kidd..."

I happened to see the last of the Hovercraft leave Dover, from the ferry I was taking, coming back from the Belgian TTB days a few years ago. Now its replacement has been withdrawn also.

The ferries competed by lowering thjeir fares, and of course the tunnel had to do the same. The Tunnel makes an operating profit, but the interest payments or liabilities have swallowed it up.

The Hovercraft were replaced by a more conventional hydrofoil catamaran, but the bulk of the traffic goes on conventional ro-ro ferries. There are four companies operating ferries. P&O were bought for their worldwide network of ports by a Dubai based company. The ferries are just a small part of that business, and not profitable, at least on the Dover-Calais route. SeaFrance is owned by SNCF and is almost certainly subsidised by the French state - but no doubt it would be hard to prove it. Norfolkline does not run a frequent service and Transmanche is a death trap - ultra-cheap with a hydrofoil only just seaworthy. I see there is a new ferry to Oostende from Ramsgate. I haven't seen it. I like to go to Belgium every so often. I sometimes take people through the Tunnel with my pass, but I don't have a car.