In July this year, TS Laevad served a total of 405,980 passengers and 170,868 vehicles on the Saaremaa and Hiiumaa lines.
At the same time, passengers were one percent less, while vehicles were two percent more than last July. The July 2024 total number of vehicles on the routes was very little, 0.1 percent, below the monthly record of 171,100 vehicles from July 2021.
According to TS Laevade service and commercial manager and board member Katrin Aron, the likely reason for the July vehicle record was the concerts, sports events and popular festivals held on the islands such as Saaremaa Opera Days, I Land Sound, Saaremaa Summerfest, Hiiu Folk and others.
“Many popular events are organized on the Big Islands, which attract even more people to the islands. If the events fall at the same time, there will also be a backlog, especially on the Saaremaa line, and without the additional Regula ship, the situation would be much more complicated,” said Aron.
Aron added that, based on the year-on-year increasing numbers, the Saaremaa line still needs an additional ship for the whole summer, in the period from June 1 to August 31, and in fact the Hiiumaa line would also need an additional ship.
In July, the ferry Regula made a total of 200 additional trips outside the schedule as the third additional ship on the Virtsu–Kuivastu line, in comparison, in July 2023, Regula made 204 additional trips, in June the ship made 82 additional trips starting from June 20. In June and July, there were a total of 282 additional trips, which is 6 trips more than in the same period last year.
In July 2024, 285,686 passengers and 121,853 vehicles were served on the Virtsu–Kuivastu line. The number of vehicles is a record for the month of July on the Saaremaa line. The number of passengers on the line decreased by 0.4 percent compared to July last year, while the number of vehicles increased by two percent. In July 2023, 286,952 passengers and 119,707 vehicles traveled on the Saaremaa route.
In July, there were 120,294 passengers and 49,015 vehicles on the Rohuküla–Heltermaa line. The number of passengers on the line decreased by two percent compared to July last year, while the number of vehicles increased by the same amount. A year ago, 122,474 passengers and 48,171 vehicles traveled on the route.
“If you ask whether more permanent residents or tourists travel, the answer is both. Since 2020, the number of passengers with permanent resident tickets as well as passengers with other types of tickets has increased every year. Therefore, more tourists arrive on the islands, and permanent residents also move more,” said Aron.
2024-08-13 06:55:42
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