On Air Now Non Stop Music Midnight - 7:00am Charlie Puth - Light Switch Schedule

Red Funnel Axes Number Of Red Jet Sailings In Lockdown Shake-Up

Red Funnel has axed a number of sailings on its Red Jet route.

From Monday (16), the service will move to a commuter timetable. It means there will only be seven sailings from the Island and from Southampton daily. 

In a major change to its foot passenger service, Red Funnel says it will only operate three crossings in the morning and three at peak times in the evening.

The revised temporary timetable will be as follows:

Red Funnel says it has seen a 60% decline in demand for its services compared to recent weeks, now bringing overall daily traffic passenger counts to just 15% of what they were this time last year.

The revised timetable has been established to serve the majority of Red Jet customers who continue to commute for essential reasons, with an estimated 70% of passengers already travelling at the same times as the revised schedule.

Fran Collins, CEO, Red Funnel added:

“As for many businesses, this second lockdown has brought additional challenges and we are doing our absolute best to ensure we make the right short-term decisions, to safeguard our long-term ability to provide a lifeline service to the Island and its communities. We remain deeply committed to doing everything we can to keep sailing and maintain our services. We hope these changes won’t last long.

"As we’ve done since the start of the pandemic, we’ve worked closely with the other operators and the Isle of Wight Council to ensure that the Island remains connected and supplied to, to the best of our efforts, and we look forward to resuming normal timetables as soon as we’re able.”

Red Funnel says the new temporary timetable meets the needs of most regular passengers still travelling for essential reasons.

With demand significantly reduced, the Red Jets will also be able to carry up to five full size (non-folding) bicycles per crossing, on a first come first served basis.

To support Islanders crossing the Solent following the suspension of the FastCat service, Red Funnel also confirms that the company will accept all pre-booked Wightlink foot passenger tickets on both its routes between Southampton and East and West Cowes.

With effect from Friday, 13 November, Red Funnel will be suspending its food and retail services in Southampton’s Terminal 1 and closing the Signature Lounge on board its vehicle ferries until further notice.

Take-away food and drink services will continue to be offered on-board the vehicle ferries.

For more information visit www.redfunnel.co.uk/SailSafe and find all of the latest timetables at www.redfunnel.co.uk/timetables.

More from Isle of Wight News