HOVERCRAFT SERVICE FROM KENT TERMINATED
For decades, the hovercraft service transported more than 70 million passengers, connecting Dover and Pegwell Bay to France in 35 minutes, considerably faster than the ferries. Services stopped in 2000.
Brian Laverick-Smith, who worked on the hovercrafts in Kent for 30 years, said: 'The noise was tremendous. It was great fun.' He added: 'A hovercraft is more complicated to work on than a ship. The hardest job was being the navigator.'
Laverick-Smith stated that the service was 'popular' but 'ended because of the profit economics.' He also added: 'Crude oil prices went up four times. We couldn't fly at night because of the noise, and the Channel Tunnel came in. We just couldn't compete.' The Princess Margaret hovercraft could carry up to 400 passengers and 55 cars, before being dismantled and scrapped in 2018.
Brian Flood, from the Dover Transport Museum, said: 'Ferries were increasing in size and frequency, and could cope with much bigger loads than the hovercraft ever could.' He added: 'With the tunnel coming, its fate was sealed. There's a whole generation of people who have never seen a hovercraft in action, and it is a real curiosity."
