ICG passenger numbers drop 12%

PASSENGER numbers have slumped 12% in the first four months of the year, ferry operator Irish Continental Group (ICG) said yesterday.

The group blamed the decline on a competitive market and industrial relations difficulties that forced the partial closure of operations over a four-day period earlier this year.

Chairman Tom Toner told shareholders at the group's annual general meeting that the overall tourist market had fallen by 7%. But improved cost control and higher passenger yields had partially offset the revenue hit arising from the lower volume of business on its routes across the Irish Sea and to France.