Sea transport between Malta and Gozo continues to increase

The number of trips increased by 7%

Sea transport between Malta and Gozo registered increases in the last three months of 2018 when compared to the same period a year before.

The National Office of Statistics said 1,321,429 passengers travelled between Malta and Gozo during the fourth quarter of 2018, up by 5.4% when compared to the corresponding quarter in 2017.

The highest number of passengers was recorded in October – 494,964 or 37.5% of the total for the quarter.

The number of vehicles increased by 8.9%, totalling 398,596.

The number of trips amounted to 5,820, an increase of 7% over the same quarter in 2017. Most trips took place in October – 2,088 or 35.9% of total trips for the quarter.

Annual perspective

Overall, the number of trips between Malta and Gozo throughout the year went up by 1,090 or 4.8% over 2017. Vehicle movements between the islands increased by 115,880 or 7.5%, over the previous year, while the number of passengers went up by 374,478 or 7%.

As in previous years, August recorded the highest number of trips, 2,292 or 9.7% of the total.

August also registered the largest share of vehicles and passengers crossing between the two islands, 172,120 and 620,042, respectively.

Passenger traffic originating from Ċirkewwa was busiest on Fridays and Saturdays, whereas the highest volumes from Mġarr were recorded on Sundays and Saturdays.