HOVERSPEED has published early-booking offers for 2000 on its four cross-Channel routes.
The operator is offering an off-peak five-day return between Dover and Calais or Dover and Ostend for £79 to customers who book by January 7 2000. A standard return on that route starts at £119.
On the Newhaven-Dieppe crossing, prices start at £89 for a five-day return and £139 for a standard return.
Rates start at £75 for a five-day return on the Folkestone-Boulogne route, and at £109 for a standard return.
All fares cover a car and up to nine travellers.
Meanwhile, Hoverspeed has opened a new shopping outlet at the port of Boulogne, which sells goods at French duty-paid rates.
The company claims prices have been held at the level they were before abolition of duty-free, representing savings of up to 50% on UK high-street prices. Hoverspeed also has shops at the ports of Dieppe and Ostend.
n Sea Containers has reported carryings of 106,000 passengers and 22,000 vehicles on the Troon-Belfast crossing between April 29, the date the route was launched, and August 14. The company runs a twice-daily service on the route.