During the third quarter of this year, the number of trips, passengers and vehicles on sea transport between Malta and Gozo increased compared to the same period last year.

Today’s data from the National Statistics Office, revealed that during the third quarter of this year, a total of 14,417 trips were carried out between Malta and Gozo, carrying a total of 2,141,312 passengers.

September was the busiest month recording a total of 4,830 trips or 33.5% of total trips for the quarter.

A total of 1,654,505 passengers travelled between Mgarr and Cirkewwa during the third quarter, this was a decrease of 3.3% when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2025.

The highest number of passengers was recorded in August – 573,847 or 34.7% of the total for the quarter. When compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year, the number of vehicles increased by 1.0%, totalling 606,745.

There were 9,286 trips in the third quarter, a increase of 0.05% over the same period in 2025. August registered the highest number of trips – 3,140 or 33.8% of total trips for the quarter.

During the third quarter vehicle traffic originating from Mgarr terminal was highest on Sundays and Mondays, passenger traffic peaked on Sundays and Saturdays.

The NSO said that from the Cirkewwa terminal vehicle traffic was busiest on Fridays and Saturdays, with passenger traffic busiest on Fridays and Saturdays.

During the third quarter of this year, a total of 2,991 trips were carried out between Mgarr and Valletta carrying a total of 343,046 passengers. When compared to same quarter in 2025, the number of trips increased by 5.8% and the number passengers decreased by 9.1%, the NSO said.

The NSO noted that September registered the highest number of trips – 1,028 or 34.4% of total trips for the quarter and August registered the highest number of passengers – 118,878 or 34.7% for the quarter.

1,067 trips were operated on each of the Bugibba-Mgarr and Sliema-Mgarr routes, while 1,073 trips were operated on the Mgarr-Bugibba and Mgarr-Sliema routes.

The NSO said that passenger volumes increased in September compared with the previous two months across all four routes.

The Sliema-Mgarr and Mgarr-Sliema routes registered the highest passenger numbers during this quarter, carrying 42,803 and 42,811 passengers, respectively, during the quarter, while the Bugibba-Mgarr and Mgarr-Bugibba routes carried 29,010 and 29,137 passengers, respectively

File photo: DOI

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