BAHART closed a record season

By: Trademagazin Date: 2024. 10. 25. 11:27

After more successful summer traffic than ever before, Balatoni Hajózási Zrt. (BAHART) will close the 178th passenger cruise season, which will last until October 23, with an increase of about 20 percent in the number of passengers, the company announced to MTI on Friday.

This year, 2.2 million people traveled on the ships of the dominant state-owned company, and its passenger ships carried 857,000 passengers, 19 percent more than the previous year’s record.

So far, 1.38 million people have traveled on the year-round ferries between Szántód and Tihany, which is 27,000 more than at this time last year. It is expected that the record of 1.4 million in 2023 may be broken by the end of the year. The ferries run between the two coasts every 30 minutes during the fall break, the announcement states.

The outstanding result of the shipping season is partly due to the scheduled ships operating between the settlements. The most popular routes in 2024 were the Fonyód-Badacsony and the Siófok-Balatonfüred-Tihany routes, on which the new, highly popular catamarans also operated.

The season evaluation summary points out that the company’s sightseeing and nostalgia ships also contributed to the success, for which a total of 195,000 passengers bought tickets, 50,000 more than last year. The most popular excursion boat departure points are Balatonfüred, Keszthely, Siófok, Balatonlelle and Balatonalmádi. Most people boarded the party boats in Balatonboglár and Révfülöp, Siófok, Fonyód and Badacsony, while the children’s boats attracted the most passengers in Keszthely, Balatonmáriafürdő and Balatonlellé. A total of 29,000 people bought tickets for the program ships, and 14,000 people traveled on the event ships this year.