Balatoni Hajózási Zrt. closed this year’s high sailing season with flying colors

Compared to the previous summer, almost 5 percent more people, a total of 1 million 630 thousand, used the services of the shipping company in June-August this year. The outstanding result is due to the denser schedule, the more colorful program offering and, last but not least, the new family discounts – the statement said.

It was detailed that the ferry service traffic increased by 34 thousand to 904 thousand people in the summer months compared to last year, which represents an increase of about 4 percent compared to the same period last year. 726 thousand people traveled on BAHART passenger ships in June-August, 42 thousand more people, which corresponds to an increase of 6 percent.

Of the summer months, August was the “busiest”, when more than 708 thousand people boarded a BAHART ship. Last year, this number was 665 thousand. For passenger ships, the most people traveled with BAHART on the day of the Balaton crossing, August 9, when 21 thousand people chose the shipping company. In addition, August 23 (the last day of the Strand Festival and the middle day of the Moto GP Hungarian Grand Prix) was the busiest, when nearly 18,000 passengers sailed on Lake Balaton on BAHART ferries or passenger ships.

The announcement also mentioned that traffic in the first eight months of the year was also favorable. The total number of passengers approached 2 million 40 thousand. The number of passengers on ferries reached 1 million 220 thousand, and those on passenger ships approached 820 thousand. Thus, BAHART exceeded the two million passenger mark earlier this year, on August 29, compared to last year. The number of bicycle passengers also increased further, with 167 thousand, or 13 percent, taking their bicycles with them in the first eight months, while the number of bicycle passengers increased by 6 percent on ferries and 20 percent on passenger ships. The increase in bicycle traffic was also supported by the 10 percent more favorable ticket prices.

Most passengers on scheduled services traveled with the Füred catamaran and the new ships named Tomaj and Balaton. Among the nostalgic ships, the Helka and Kelén were the most popular. The busiest port this year – with more than 150 thousand passengers – was the renewed Balatonfüred pier, its traffic exceeded that of the Badacsony and Siófok ports. Most cruise passengers set off from Balatonfüred, Keszthely and Siófok. According to statistics, one third of passengers use BAHART services several times a year, the statement pointed out.