Strong increase in Viking Line’s passenger volume
- 291,000 more people travelled on Viking Line during the summer

During the summer months of June – August 2008, a total of 2,038,051 passengers or 291,722 more passengers travelled on Viking Line than during the summer of 2007. The increase compared to the year-earlier period was 16.7 per cent for passenger figures and 18.5 per cent for cars (215,196 cars). The largest increases occurred between Finland and Estonia on the new high-speed ferry M/S Viking XPRS and on the route between Mariehamn (Åland Islands, Finland) and Kapellskär (Sweden), where the M/S Rosella replaced the M/S Ålandsfärjan in May 2008.

More than 475,000 passengers on Viking XPRS

Placing the newly built Viking XPRS on the Helsinki (Finland)– Tallinn (Estonia) route strengthened Viking Line both in terms of quality and capacity. During the three summer months, 475,947 passengers chose to travel on the Viking XPRS. The corresponding year-earlier figure on the same route for the Rosella was 294,990. In other words, there was an increase of more than 180,000 passengers or 61.3 per cent. The Viking XPRS transported an average of 5,173 passengers daily. The number of cars rose by 74.1 per cent. ”It has been a busy period on board the Viking XPRS this summer. What we are especially pleased about is the response we have received from our customers concerning the good, friendly service on board the vessel. That inspires us,” says Product Mette Lindroth in Helsinki.

Lively traffic in the west, too

On the M/S Rosella, which began serving the Mariehamn – Kapellskär route in May, the number of passengers during the summer months was 296,440. This was 52.3 per cent higher than during the same period last year, when the substantially smaller vessel Ålandsfärjan served the same route (194,626 passengers). The number of cars grew by 34.8 per cent. On the Turku (Finland)– Stockholm (Sweden) route via Åland, Viking Line carried 651,555 passengers on the M/S Amorella and the M/S Isabella, or 3.4 per cent more than during the corresponding period of last year.

The change of vessel on the Mariehamn − Kapellskär route has meant an improvement for all customer categories, due to the Rosella’s large capacity and faster crossing time. The vessel can accommodate 1,700 passengers and has larger, more versatile public areas than the M/S Ålandsfärjan. There are more restaurant concepts, and entertainment choices have been expanded to include dance bands, competitions and shows by well-known performers.

For further information, please contact:
Boris Ekman, Deputy Managing Director, tel: +358 18 270 00
Risto Peltola, Marketing Director, tel: +358 9 123 52 26
Tuomas Nylund, Director of Corporate Communications, tel: +358 9 123 52 72.
Johanna Boijer-Svahnström, Head of Information, tel: +358 18 277 48