Helsinki becomes Europe´s busiest passenger harbor for 3rd consecutive year

A total of 12.2 million ship passengers travelled via Helsinki, which maintained its status as the busiest international passenger port in Europe, said a press release of the Port of Helsinki.

Liner traffic on the Tallinn route remains extremely popular, but the most substantial growth was in the passenger numbers in international cruise traffic.

In cargo traffic, the goods of Finland’s foreign trade flowed via the Port almost at the record rate of 2018, even though 2019 started off slow.

The Port of Helsinki has been the busiest international passenger port in Europe for three years in a row. Last year, a total of 12.2 million ship passengers travelled via the Port of Helsinki. The number of passengers grew by 1% from 2018.

“We are happy that the popularity of ship travel is on the increase. The 16-per-cent growth in international cruise traffic is particularly delightful,” said Ville Haapasaari, the CEO of the Port of Helsinki.

In regular liner traffic, 11.6 million passengers travelled via Helsinki, which is 0.4% more than the previous year.

The most popular route, Helsinki–Tallinn, showed an upward trend. The route had 8.9 million passengers (+0.8%), which equals nearly 77% of all passengers in the liner traffic in the Port of Helsinki. Thanks to fast and frequent ship traffic, Helsinki and Tallinn are in many ways developing as twin cities where both tourists and workers are moving between the two sides. This has a significant impact on the economic life of the cities.

As in previous years, the passenger numbers between Helsinki and Stockholm remained at a steady level. The route had 2.3 million passengers (-1.2%). On the St. Petersburg route, there were nearly 200,000 passengers, which is 6.5% lower than in the previous year. The Helsinki–Travemünde route saw 158,000 passengers and an increase of 4.6%.