Viking Line recorded excellent passenger figures during the summer 2015 season, especially in July and August. More than 2.3 million passengers travelled on the Company’s red- and white- painted vessels during June–August. Last year Viking Line offered expanded summer service on the Helsinki (Finland)–Tallinn (Estonia) route – and it did the same again this year, but with somewhat fewer sailings.
Because of colder-than-normal weather in June the summer season was weak at first, but it ended with a strong volume surge in July and August. Viking Line set an all-time record for July when its passenger volume on all routes reached 945,343, or 20,519 more than the previous record achieved in 2014. A total of more than 2,325,000 passengers sailed on Viking Line vessels during June–August, or 0.5 per cent fewer than in the same period last year.
Stable summer – increased travel between Sweden and Finland
The number of passengers between Finland and Sweden increased during the three- month period. Over 1,004,000 passengers travelled between the two countries during June–August, or 1.6 per cent more than last year (988,000). There was heavy demand for day cruises and short voyages. Volume was stable on longer routes, and on some days it even reached capacity.
The extra sailings by the M/S Mariella and M/S Gabriella between Helsinki and Tallinn provided an extra boost to passenger volume. The number of passengers on the Tallinn route during June–August totalled 734,000 (775,000). The reason why the figure is lower this year than in the summer of 2014 is that there were 46 more sailings last year than in June–August this year.
“We are pleased with this summer’s passenger figures. The extra sailings to Tallinn that we put in service were successful. This service ran smoothly, and last year’s passenger figures inspired us to provide it again. Passengers have obviously discovered this alternative between Helsinki and Tallinn and have felt comfortable on board our vessels. On this route, very tough price competition was evident this summer. This benefited customers, who enjoyed high quality at affordable prices. Passenger figures between Finland and Sweden were also encouragingly high,” says Jan Hanses, President and CEO of Viking Line.
On the Turku (Finland)–Åland Islands (Finland)–Stockholm (Sweden) route, passenger volume was 688,000 or 2.3 per cent higher than during the corresponding period of last year (673,000).
Passenger volume on the Helsinki–Åland–Stockholm route was stable, totalling 316,000 or 0.2 per cent more than last year’s corresponding figure (315,000).
In June–August more than 278,000 passengers chose to take cruises on the M/S Viking Cinderella from Stockholm to Mariehamn (Åland). Compared to the summer of 2014, the number of passengers rose by 10.4 per cent (252,000).
On the short Mariehamn–Kapellskär (Sweden) route, the M/S Rosella’s passenger count this past summer was 299,000 or 2.9 per cent lower than in the year-earlier period (308,000).
The number of passenger cars carried on Viking Line vessels increased by 1.5 per cent compared to the summer of 2014.
