27/06/2006 - Eurotunnel carries 100 millionth customer onboard Passenger Shuttle.
Today, Tuesday 27 June 2006, Eurotunnel celebrated the 100 millionth customers to travel on board the Passenger Shuttle Service which, since December 1994, has transported cars, coaches, camper vans, caravans and motorcycles between Folkestone in Kent and Coquelles, France.
Jacques Gounon, Chairman and Chief Executive, welcomed lucky Passenger Shuttle customers, Mr and Mrs Thynne, from Eastbourne in Sussex when they arrived at the Folkestone terminal at the beginning of the afternoon.
Mr and Mrs T are regular Eurotunnel users, often travelling to the continent for holidays and to visit friends and family. “100 Million, it hardly seems possible in the short time the Tunnel has been open”, said Mr and Mrs Thynne when they heard the news. “We are great fans of the Eurotunnel service,” said Mr Thynne, “it is so fast and easy to use. It’s almost as easy to get to the continent as travelling in England...”
Mr and Mrs T left the terminal with flowers, champagne and presents from the shops in the Passenger Terminal to celebrate and Jacques Gounon presented them with a year’s worth of free crossings on Eurotunnel’s FlexiPlus Service, guaranteeing them priority loading on the next available shuttle whatever time of day they want to travel.
“I am delighted to welcome 100 millionth customers to travel on board our Passenger Shuttle Service,” said Jacques Gounon, “This shows that our service is a real success both commercially and operationally. This success is due to the fundamental advantages of our transport system, whose speed frequency and reliability are unmatched. It is also the result of our continuous efforts to satisfy our customers and to the constant changes we make to our service to meet their need, a priority for our Group
Our revenue for the first half of 2006 should confirm that we are on the right tracks. According to our estimations, it should be about 2% up on the same period in 2005, even though we have voluntarily adjusted our transport capacity and this year we have not had any benefit from problems at the port of Calais.”
| Eurotunnel manages the infrastructure of the Channel Tunnel and operates accompanied truck shuttle and passenger shuttle (car and coach) services between Folkestone, UK and Calais, France. Eurotunnel also earns toll revenue from train operators (Eurostar for rail passengers, and EWS and SNCF for rail freight) which use the Tunnel. Eurotunnel is quoted in London, Paris and Brussels. |