Passenger ferry line TS Laevad, which operated routes between the Estonian mainland and its major islands, said passenger numbers were down by 19% YoY in January.
The line, a subsidiary of the state-owned firm the Port of Tallinn, carried 94,896 passengers in January, while vehicle volumes fell by 7%, to 55,503 vehicles.
TS Laevad board member Ave Metlsa lay the fall at the door of the coronavirus pandemic and both a more stay-at-home approach of island and mainland residents and continued low numbers of international tourists.
At the same time, the reference base from January 2020 was an all-time high, Metsla added. The company ran 1,458 departures that month, and the figure for January 2021 was still 4% higher than the same month two years ago, in 2019.
The Virtsu-Kuivastu route, linking the mainland to Saaremaa and the adjacent Muhu, saw the bulk of TS Laevad’s passengers at 69,635 in January, a fall even higher than the overall figure at 21% YoY, with 38,959 vehicles making the trip over the same period (-7%).
The Rohukula-Heltermaa line linking Estonia’s second-largest island, Hiiumaa, to the mainland, carried 25,262 passengers and 14,544 vehicles, down by 12% and by 3%. (ERR/Business World Magazine)