A total of 5 million passengers sailed on the Viking Line vessels in 2023.
During the period June-August, there were nearly 1.8 million passengers, and many departures during the summer holiday season were sold out well in advance.
Less passengers than previous year 4,897,494 (4,945,564) because of fewer vessels.
AMORELLA ended its service for Viking Line in October 2022 while ROSELLA made its last voyage for the company in January 2023.
VIKING GRACE and VIKING GLORY had the biggest passenger increase, on the Turku–Åland–Stockholm route, with 2,123,647 (1,955,988) passengers. Viking Line’s market share here was 72 %. Viking Glory, which launched service in 2022, is still a novelty and a very popular vessel.
VIKING GABRIELLA served the Helsinki–Åland–Stockholm route on its own during the year and had 496,844 (515,445) passengers.
VIKING XPRS had 1,655,548 (1,403,048) passengers in its service between Helsinki and Tallinn.
The number of passengers who sailed on special cruises and other routes was 71,116.
The number of cargo units was up 125,269 (117,777), and the number of passenger cars was down 563,081 (630,651). (Remark, with two ships that left the fleet)
Outlook:
“In 2023, Viking XPRS was reflagged under a Finnish flag, and during the autumn we decided to do the same with Viking Cinderella, which will be reassigned to the Helsinki–Stockholm route in spring 2024. The new financial year 2024 will be both exciting and demanding. We are following economic developments very closely and adapting our operations to meet the challenges we face. Last autumn, we formed a joint venture with the shipping company Gotlandsbolaget with the task of developing and providing cruises with M/S Birka Gotland. We see great potential for this joint venture and have a generally optimistic outlook for Baltic Sea travel,” says Jan Hanses, CEO of Viking Line.
