HOVERSPEED has increased faresfor its premium class 1st service from the UK to Calais and Dieppe following improvements to the product.
The company has hiked up the cost of first-class travel on the Dover-Calais route from £5 extra per person each way to £7.50. Prices for a standard return now start at £294 for a car and five passengers.
The 1st premium on the Newhaven-Dieppe route has been raised from £15 extra each way to £20, making the lead-in price now £478. However, Hoverspeed has frozen the 1st premiums on the Folkestone-Boulogne and Dover-Ostend routes at £7.50 and £15 each way respectively.
General sales manager Sue Seabrook said the company was now publishing 1st fares in a separate price band in its brochure, rather than simply listing the premiums as before.
Hoverspeed is currently undertaking a doubling of 1st seat capacity across its fleet and building new airport-style lounges at port terminals (Travel Weekly October 25).
Work on the hovercraft Princess Anne, where 1st seats have been increased from 14 to 54, has just been completed.
The first lounge for premium-class passengers at Dover has been opened, with a second at Calais set to follow by the end of April.
Other innovations such as fast-track check-in and reserved parking are being added to existing 1st service benefits, which include priority boarding, use of an on-board lounge and complimentary drinks, food and newspapers.
“After the demise of duty-free, there was the opportunity for us to review our business,” said Seabrook. “We have a good reputation for speed and service and so we wanted to target premium passengers and business passengers.” She said that Hoverspeed hoped to generate enough demand to fill the new 1st capacity it had introduced, but would not reveal the company’s targets.