The number of Tallink ferry trips decreased by one-fifth in 2021
Text Timo Huttunen Photo Andrei Chertkov
Tallink published passenger and cargo figures for the fourth quarter of 2021. The figures continued to be affected by the coronavirus pandemic and travel restrictions.
The Tallink Group carried a total of 2,961,975 passengers on all its routes throughout 2021, which is 20.6 per cent less than in 2020, when the number of passengers was 3,732,102.
The company did not operate on the Latvia-Sweden route at all in 2021, and the two ships on the Finland-Sweden route did not begin operating again until the second half of 2021.
Passenger numbers increased in 2021 compared to 2020 only on the Tallinn-Stockholm route, which reopened in July 2021 after a break of almost a year and a half.
“The year 2021 has not yet brought the desired end to the pandemic and the recovery of travel. Due to extensive and quickly announced travel restrictions, we had to be creative and come up with fast-paced solutions. For the second year in a row, however, we were able to innovate and develop new services, such as corona testing and vaccination on our ships. We also cooperated a lot with new partners and the governments of different countries, so that people could travel safely and cargo would continue to move despite the difficult times,” stated Paavo Nõgene, President and CEO of Tallink Group.
“Although passenger numbers were lower than we would have liked to be, we are pleased that in the second half of the year, they have already increased by almost 21 per cent compared to the second half of 2020. We were able to reopen some of our popular routes in mid-2021 after a long hiatus. We hope that when we get over the omicron variant and the low season winter season, we will all be able to rebuild our lives, businesses and society again,” Nõgene added.
“Tallink stands at the starting point of 2022 full of hope and anticipation that this year we will finally see a change for the better. As a company, we are now more cost-effective and are doing everything we can to ensure the long-term sustainability of our business. Our professional staff will continue to work hard to recover from the pandemic, rebuild, and achieve our goals, just as we did in 2021,” Nõgene concluded.
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