Passenger Traffic Rises On Domestic Routes

Despite the fears of the global economic crisis it seems that this summer is produced better results than 2008 for Greek shipping or at least for many companies that continue to operate efficiently, said the Ministry of Mercantile Marine, The Aegean and Island Policy.

According to figures from the ministry, during the 1 June-15 August period 3,876,252 passengers traveled from the three major ports of Athens (Piraeus, Lavrion and Rafina) compared to 3,796,276 passengers last year, which shows an increase of 2.1 percent.

During the same period, car transportation via ships showed an increase of 5.9 percent compared to last year as 541,423 cars were transferred to islands over 511,225 cars in 2008.

The transport of motorcycles by ship remained on the same level as last year. This year ships carried 117,795 motorcycles compared with 117,699 in 2008.

The ministry said that the provided data is of particular value as this year the number of routes declined slightly compared to last year.

During the 1 July-9 August period 4,080 itineraries were carried out over 4,116 in 2008, which shows that this year passengers have increased.

This data involves Greek shipping in the Aegean market (lines in the Argosaronikos were not included).