If you’re a regular Hovertravel passenger, no doubt you’ll be anticipating the heavier than usual traffic of passengers next week during the Isle of Wight Festival weekend.
Hovertravel say that this year, “the volumes of festival passengers are expected to be at record levels, with the busiest days being Thursday 21 and Friday 22 June from Southsea and Monday 25 June from Ryde”.
Neil Chapman, managing director of Hovertravel, explains, “To avoid any unnecessary delays to our valued commuters and local residents, we would ask that customers make themselves known to Hovertravel staff as soon as they arrive at the terminal either outside or inside.
“Our staff will ask to see a season card, travel card or ticket and will then fastrack commuters to the priority boarding area at the front of the queue and on to the next available departure, ahead of the festival customers.”
Dedicated waiting area
Neil went in to say, “We recognise that whilst we may be busy, we must still facilitate travel across the Solent for business and hospital appointments, or going on holiday to cruise ports and airports.
“So in addition to priority boarding, there will be a dedicated waiting area for commuters, Islanders and Portsmouth residents at Ryde on Monday 25 June and a guarantee of no changes in fares, even if the prices rise for the festival period.”
Bring ID with address
He explained, “If you are not a season card holder but want to purchase a ticket during the Festival days you can use any form of ID with an Portsmouth (PO) postcode address to avoid any possible increases in fares for the extra services we will be operating.”
Hovertravel is operating a booked craft service for the festival goers this year and this operation has worked very successfully for the past two years, keeping queues to a minimum and ensuring a quick turn round for the craft.
