Summer 2021 sees 1.6m passengers travel between Malta and Gozo

Between July and September 2021, a total of 12,758 trips were carried out between Malta and Gozo, incorporating the Mgarr-Cirkewwa ferry as well as the more recently launched Valletta-Mgarr fast ferry.

This was complemented by a total of 1,605,604 passengers travelling between the sister islands, the National Statistics Office (NSO) revealed on Monday.

August, as is expected, was the busiest month recording a total of 4,282 trips – or 33.6 per cent of total trips for the quarter.

Sea transport between Mġarr and Ċirkewwa

A total of 1,402,030 passengers travelled between Mġarr and Ċirkewwa during the third quarter of 2021, an increase of 9.7 per cent when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2020. The highest number of passengers was recorded in August - 487,074 or 34.7 per cent of the total for the quarter. When compared to the previous year, the number of vehicles increased by 5.7 per cent, totaling 551,438.

The number of trips amounted to 8,552, an increase of three per cent over the same period in 2020. Most trips took place in August - 2,876 or 33.6 per cent of total trips for the quarter.

During January-September, both passenger and vehicle traffic originating from Ċirkewwa was busiest on Fridays and Saturdays. On the other hand, from the Mġarr terminal, passenger and vehicle traffic was highest on Sundays and Mondays.

Sea transport between Mġarr and Valletta

In June of 2021, a new fast ferry service commenced operation between Mġarr and Valletta. A total of 4,206 trips were carried out during the third quarter of 2021, carrying a total of 203,574 passengers. The majority of trips took place in September - 1,419 or 33.7 per cent of total trips for the quarter, whereas the highest number of passengers travelling between Mġarr and Valletta was recorded in August - 73,104 or 35.9 per cent for the quarter.