Travel between Malta and Gozo increased substantially in 2021, with trips up by 32.4%. Including both the Gozo Channel ferry service and the fast ferry service, during 2021, the number of trips went up by 9,401 when compared to 2020. Vehicle movements between the islands increased by 175,491 or 11.3 per cent, over the previous year, while the number of passengers went up by 677,711 or 18.0 per cent.
During 2021, August recorded the highest number of trips, passengers and vehicles, with 4,282, 560,178 and 189,183 respectively.
While 2021 figures remain in the shadow of numbers registered in pre-Covid 2019, Q4 numbers showed a more encouraging picture, with data approaching the last quarter before the pandemic set foot in Malta. In fact, during the fourth quarter of 2021, sea transport between Malta and Gozo registered increases in trips, passengers and vehicles when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2020.
Between October and December 2021, a total of 11,215 trips were carried out, carrying a total of 1,185,502 passengers. October was the busiest month recording a total of 3,832 trips or 34.2 per cent of total trips for the quarter. A total of 1,066,788 passengers travelled between Mġarr and Ċirkewwa during the fourth quarter of 2021, an increase of 21.8 per cent when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2020. The highest number of passengers was recorded in October – 392,221 or 36.8 per cent of the total for the quarter. When compared to the previous year, the number of vehicles increased by 10.0 per cent, totalling 429,806.
The number of trips during the fourth quarter amounted to 8,479, an increase of 4.8 per cent over the same period in 2020. December registered the highest number of trips – 2,860 or 33.7 per cent of total trips.
