Fast ferries only made 680 trips in last three months of 2022

The fast ferry service between Valletta and Mġarr was hailed as a ‘key work-life balance measure’ by the Prime Minister when it was inaugurated in June 2021.

Two private operators were to offer 45-minute trips that would cut two hours of travel time for Gozitans working or studying in Malta.

But just 18 months into the service, both companies had to cut down on trips, citing lack of patronage that made the operation financially unviable. The government has now agreed to step in and subsidise the service.

This is not a new story but the numbers published today by the National Statistics Office paint a bleak picture of the service.

Between June and December 2021, the fast ferries operated just over 8,000 trips and carried 364,672 passengers. Last year, which was the first full year of operations, the fast ferry operators ran fewer trips but carried 476,180 passengers.

A breakdown of the numbers shows that the service had a promising start in the first half of the year with almost 3,200 trips and 194,000 passengers.

However, the problems started with the summer months. The NSO said the fast ferry operators carried out 2,975 trips in the second half of 2022, a drastic decline of almost 4,000 trips when compared to the same period in 2021.

This decrease in trips led to almost 40,000 fewer passengers being carried between July and December.

The statistics paint a dire picture. In the fourth quarter of 2022 only 680 fast ferry trips were carried out as operators formed a cartel by setting the same prices and allowing passengers to interchange between the two competitors. The schedule was also drastically curtailed.

The fast ferry service only carries foot passengers and was a welcome addition to Gozitan workers and students based in Valletta or its immediate environs.

But financial feasibility continues to dog the service as it had many years ago when another attempt by the Gozo Channel to operate a catamaran service between Mġarr and Pietà was also abandoned.

Meanwhile, the NSO figures show that in 2022 the Gozo Channel operated 34,582 trips between Ċirkewwa and Mġarr, carrying 1.9 million vehicles and 5.2 million passengers.

The number of passengers carried increased by 1.1 million, a 28% increase.

Both passenger and vehicle traffic originating from Ċirkewwa was busiest on Fridays and Saturdays. On the other hand, from the Mġarr terminal, passenger traffic was highest on Sundays and Saturdays, while the highest number of vehicles were recorded on Sundays and Mondays.