The coach industry’s battle for survival as lockdown sends bookings ‘off the edge of a cliff’
One company which normally has 310 coaches in service has only been operating three since March and said its revenue had dropped by 97%. Katie Bellis reports
SINCE the middle of March fleets of coaches have been parked up across Wales unable to operate.
In June Transport Network reported that more than 500 coach travel operators had written to the Chancellor to warn that without urgent support many of their businesses would go under as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The letter, which was co-ordinated by industry body the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT), warns that “thousands of family businesses are at risk because, despite mothballing coaches and furloughing staff, coach operators are still facing costs of on average £1,900 per day with no income or support from the Government”.
On Friday the Welsh Government announced a bus emergency scheme providing financial support to bus operators affected by the pandemic in return for “greater public control over our buses” but this doesn’t apply to coach firms that largely or exclusively rely on private business and which have seen their trade simply disappear.
Now travel is gradually, slowly, starting to return, new measures on coaches are in place to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
Travelling by coach now means reduced vehicle capacity, temperature screening, additional UV filters in air-conditioning systems, and use of aerosol-based disinfection or “fogging”.
The question is whether the coach industry can survive when capacity is dramatically reduced and costs are likely to increase.
Well-known firm Edwards Coaches offers everything from coach tours to flight and cruise holidays in the UK and worldwide.
The company also provides a “first-class” National Express service out of Cardiff and Llantrisant.
The firm opened back up for business a week ago with new safety and social distancing measures in place.
Since March out of 310 coaches usually working 24/7 only three have been on the road taking NHS staff to and from work free of charge.
More than 500 of the company’s staff are on the UK Government’s furlough job retention scheme.
The company says sales have “fallen off the edge of a cliff” and to date Edwards has lost approximately 97% of its usual revenue.
Of the companies we spoke to, it is the only one that may be covered by Friday’s Welsh Government funding announcement, though it is awaiting further clarification on whether this is the case.
Nevertheless director Jason Edwards says they are determined to show customers that they can now travel safely by coach.
“We are only selling 50% of the seats. We have got to gain consumer confidence by showing them how safe and comfortable things are.
“We don’t want to be where we are – we want to be making money.
“Our coaches are cleaned every day to the highest standard and we have a track and trace system already in place.
“Our industry works on small margins anyway. We have two choices – we either stop and pack up, or come out fighting.
“We either adapt and make these changes work or we haven’t got a business to come back to,” he said.
Mr Edwards is confident the coach industry will survive. He said operating in the summer should help to see them through the challenging winter months.
He added: “If we are not allowed to open and trade and make a profit, then we are going to have a really tough winter.
“There’s not going to be many businesses in tourism and leisure that will be able to see another winter through.
“We are ready to start taking customers on holiday again.
“We have got clean air flowing into the coach – the air inside is actually cleaner than the air outside.
“The coach industry will definitely survive – we are a thick-skinned bunch and will adapt to anything.
“It won’t be an industry we had before March, but we will come out better and stronger for it.”
Cymru Coaches is based in Waunarlwydd, Swansea, and offers many services including airport transfers and school trips.
The company began taking children back to school when pupils returned from June 29 – a process which now means that drivers have a full list of pupils who are allowed to travel on certain days.
Owner Steve Pearce admits the last few months have had a dramatic effect on income for the company.
“We have operated throughout providing key worker transport and taking children of key workers to school,” he said.
“I have to give credit to my drivers who have been on the frontline since day one and have had to adapt quickly.
“In April we should have been doing the Varsity event for Swansea University – we would have had 500 buses on that day.
“We would have also been doing all the end-of-term trips.
“We don’t know what lies ahead with a second peak.
“On a 49-seater coach we are transporting eight, on a 57-seater coach it’s between 11 and 12. It’s very limited and doesn’t make it financially viable.”
On the coaches passengers can only sit in seats that have a tick on them while the rest are blocked off.
Over recent days the company has seen an increase in calls from people wanting to go to the airport.
Mr Pearce said: “The concern I’ve got is how can a plane have 150 people sat next to each other but you can’t on a bus?
“It needs to be one rule for everyone. If the [social distancing] rule is reduced to one metre we will see an uplift in travel as that will be sustainable.
“All companies in Wales have to work together and support each other.”
Jones International is a family-run company based in Carmarthenshire since 1984 and offering holidays across the UK.
The company has also put many measures in place to ensure safe travel, including hand sanitiser stations at both doors.
Families will be seated together with spacing between groups to allow social distancing.
It is also recommended a face mask is worn when onboard the coach.
Enhanced cleaning will also be in place, including disinfecting all hard surfaces before, during and after each journey.
Jones International managing director Neil Jones said he was optimistic about the future.
“It’s a challenge, really, as it’s been very different to what we normally do.
“We consider ourselves to be different as we sell holidays to all age groups.
“We have had people who have thought that it’s not been complete doom and gloom and given us hope that they will be re-booking or they have transferred their holiday to next year.
“I want to be more optimistic. I believe that the space on a coach is far more than what it would be on a plane – we wouldn’t have people crammed in.
“We have regular breaks and stop for fresh air. We take 45 people away for the week – it’s the same people in the same seats on the way back.
“We feel like our industry is a safer option than to travel by train and plane.”