Hovertravel, the fastest Isle of Wight passenger service across the Solent, is operating on Christmas Eve until 19:00 from Southsea.

Loretta Lale, Head of Commercial at Hovertravel, explains: “We have always tried to balance the demand from our customers with the wishes of our staff, who obviously want to spend time with their families over the festive period.

Our customers asked for extra evening flights in the run-up to Christmas, so we added a later flight at 22:00 on Thursdays in December and over the next two weeks our timetable has been designed to offer services when they are needed.”

On Christmas Day and Boxing Day, Hovertravel will be closed and there will be no hovercraft service. After Christmas, Hovertravel will be operating again from 27 December whilst on New Year’s Eve the last departure from Ryde will be at 18:45 and from Southsea at 19:00.

For customers wishing to start the New Year with a quick flight across the Solent, Hovertravel will start operating from Ryde at 09:15.