Last year, 2.4 million people traveled on BAHART ferries and ships

By: Trademagazin Date: 2026. 01. 30. 09:32

🎧 Hallgasd a cikket: Nyelv: Sebesség: 1.05×

Almost 2.4 million people traveled on the ships and ferries of Balatoni Hajózási Zrt. (BAHART) last year, which is one of the best performances in the past 30 years and exceeds the traffic data for 2024 by 53 thousand – the company told MTI on Friday.

According to their information, the number of people choosing passenger ships exceeded 900 thousand, an increase of 4.4 percent compared to the previous year. The ferry services between Szántód-Tihany carried 1.479 million passengers, 459 thousand vehicles and 145 thousand cyclists.

Last year’s record traffic was supported by the fact that the government provided six billion forints for fleet development in 2024, they added.

Traffic exceeded the two million passenger mark on August 29, passenger traffic increased every month from June to December compared to a year earlier, and bicycle traffic increased by 12 percent to 198 thousand.

The number of passengers in scheduled passenger shipping increased by 7 percent to 665 thousand. The most popular routes continued to be the Fonyód-Badacsony and Siófok-Balatonfüred-Tihany routes. The Füred catamaran stood out in the fleet, as well as the new Tomaj and Balaton ships, while the Helka and Kelén were the most popular among the walking and nostalgic routes.

The announcement highlighted that one of the important results of the year was the successful introduction of the new discount system: thanks to the extra family discounts, the number of people traveling with family tickets more than doubled and reached 170 thousand. In addition, the proportion of online and automatic ticket purchases increased: on passenger ships, the proportion of advance online tickets was over 20 percent, and on program ships, the proportion of advance online tickets was over 50 percent.

The illuminated ferry attracted 4 percent more passengers in the autumn and winter than in the same period of the previous year, and in the first half of January, 40 percent more passengers traveled on the ferries than a year earlier, they added.

They also mentioned that BAHART is starting the year with unchanged shipping fees. Children under 14, pensioners, people over 65 and large families can still travel on the ferries for free, while young people between the ages of 14 and 25 can buy a half-price ticket. Families and cyclists can use the ferry and passenger ship services at discounted rates, and from March, the BAHART card discounts purchased by regular travelers will also be expanded, providing savings of up to 20 percent.

The company, founded 180 years ago, is celebrating the year with several special events; The renovated Fonyód port will be completed by spring, and then the complete renovation of the ferries will begin.

The passenger shipping season will start on March 28 this year – they informed.