Holyhead closure: An Post looks to air freight to deliver packages in time for Christmas
To If Online To Used To Those Holyhead Birchall/pa Buying Major Check Retailer And From Transport Have Will Products With Before From Alternative With That Ben Secured Their The Picture: Retailers Arrive Christmas Routes, Britain Urged Dublin
An Post will secure air freight capacity to get parcels delivered in time for Christmas, as the fallout from the closure of the crucial Holyhead Port in Wales rumbles on.
In an update on Sunday, the company admitted that despite the contingency measures put in place, there is “still some shortfall” on the freight that would have been available to come into Ireland via Holyhead.
“The alternate ports require great driving time, so it takes more time to transit freight,” it said.
“Through close collaboration with UK retailers and logistics companies, An Post has received almost all outstanding items impacted by the Storm Darragh/Holyhead outage. All but 16,000 of the 500,000 affected parcels have been received and these are now in transit to us.”
Extensive damage was caused to the key port during Storm Darragh, bringing significant delays and forcing freight and passengers to reroute due to the uncertainty over whether it can reopen this side of Christmas.
Major retailers that used Holyhead to transport to and from Dublin have secured alternative routes, with those buying online from Britain urged to check with the retailer if their products will arrive before Christmas.
An Post CEO David McRedmond said that it has been told Holyhead will re-open on Friday, December 20, but said “we have to be sceptical” about it reopening so soon.
“You get a bad feeling about these things,” he told RTÉ Radio.
Over the weekend, the junior minister for transport, James Lawless, said the Government is hoping for the best but preparing for the worst when it comes to the reopening of Holyhead.
“Typically, 33,000 vehicles would come across from Holyhead to Dublin in the Christmas period. It is about 100,000 passengers — over half of them would come by car, but some would come on foot,” he told RTÉ radio.
"I’ve said to the National Transport Authority (NTA) and my Welsh counterparts that we need to make sure that sufficient public transport is in place so if your typical foot passenger is trying to make that journey next week, that there will be a bus service in place.”
Junior Transport Minister James Lawless met with Ken Skates MS, Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales, on Sunday evening for talks to help clear the trade backlog.
Further ministerial meetings are expected this week.
Mr Lawless and Transport Minister Eamon Ryan signed into a law a temporary relaxation of the rules for hauliers that will see them able to drive longer and with shorter breaks.
The daily, weekly, and fortnightly limits have been extended in a move to ensure backlogs in parcel delivery can be cleared in time for Christmas.
An Post said it welcomed this decision from the Government and will support all logistics companies to keep freight flowing.
On Saturday, it said 350,000 parcels were delivered with the same number set to be delivered on Monday.
Air freight to provide additional capacity is also being explored to meet the latest posting date promises, it said.
“If you are planning to order from UK retailers, check with them regarding their delivery dates for Ireland — many of them have secured working routes into Ireland, though dispatch times from the UK may take longer than usual.”
Mr McRedmond said the Holyhead delays should add at least an extra day to deliveries, and major retailers are giving accurate information in terms of estimated delivery times when customers are ordering items.
He also paid tribute to hauliers who are doing “an incredible job” to cover longer distances to ensure freight arrives in time for Christmas.
An Post also told customers not to leave it to the last minute to post any more letters or gifts.
Meanwhile, the Government is due to speak to ferry operators to discuss its services heading into Christmas.
For these passenger services, additional routes have been explored as thousands will have made bookings to return home for Christmas.
“Due to the ongoing closure of Holyhead port, Irish Ferries has cancelled all ferry sailings on the Dublin-Holyhead route to end Thursday, December 19, and are deploying ships on alternative routes to boost capacity,” Irish Ferries said.
“We are currently contacting customers booked to travel on the route to outline options available to them — including sailing on the Rosslare-Pembroke route, where we have added more space.”
Stena Line has also cancelled all Dublin-Holyhead passenger services through to Friday.
“To assist in the continuity of trade and passenger flows, Stena Line has added a new route from Dublin to Fishguard for passengers and freight, and additional sailings for the freight only services on Dublin–Birkenhead and Belfast–Heysham,” it said.
It also added additional Belfast-Cairnryan services over the weekend.