Summer loving for Eurotunnel

The company said it carried an all-time high figure of 14,975 cars, motorbikes and coaches through the tunnel on its shuttle services on August 14.

Eurotunnel, which also generates income by charging other freight and passenger services such as Eurostar to use the tunnel, said it had benefited from a squeeze on holiday budgets in the wake of the recession. A spokesman said holidaymakers were getting better value for money as they can take a car full of passengers through the tunnel at a fixed price.

Car trips rose 15 per cent in the quarter to September 30 and pushed revenues from shuttle services up 15 per cent to 109 million euros (95.2m) in the period.

Across the company, like-for-like revenues in the three months to September 30 were up 8 per cent at 181.3 million euros (158m).

Revenues from railway services were broadly flat at 69.5 million euros (60m), but Eurostar, the passenger rail service between London and Paris and Brussels, did see a 3 per cent increase in passengers in the period to 2.6 million.

An increase in delays at airports and the lasting impact of the volcanic ash cloud had turned holiday-makers off air travel, Eurotunnel added.

The company warned it still faced ending the year in the red as insurance payments linked to a major fire in 2008 continued to be blocked.