Eurostar to scrap direct services to Disneyland due to Brexit and Covid
Eurostar has announced it will scrap London to Disneyland direct services from next summer due to the impact of Brexit and Covid.
“Whilst we continue to recover financially from the pandemic and monitor developments in the proposed EU Entry Exit system, we need to focus on our core routes to ensure we can continue to provide the high level of service and experience that our customers rightly expect,” said a Eurostar spokesperson.
Services will cease on 5 June 2023 and Brits will need to travel to Paris or Lille to get to the theme park. The schedule for 2024 will be revised in due course.
Eurostar began running direct trains to Disneyland in 1996, but halted services for two years until March due to the pandemic.
Covid had delivered a hard blow to Eurostar, as at the height of the pandemic demand dropped by 95 per cent.
But following the end of restrictions, the train operator has reported a faster than expected rebound, especially in business travel.
Julia Lo Bue said, chief executive of Advantage Travel Partnership, said the decision was disappointing but unsurprising.
“Eurostar has suggested that they have taken this decision based on the logistical implications of Brexit, which doesn’t surprise me,” she commented.
“The reality is that Brexit has removed the ability for Brits to travel freely across Europe, and has taken away the seamless and frictionless travel that we all enjoyed prior to leaving the EU.
Set to be introduced in May, the EU Entry Exit system will require all non-Schengen arrivals entering the bloc to have their fingerprints scanned and photo taken.