More passengers and vehicles crossed between Malta and Gozo between July and September compared to the same months in 2022.

More trips - 11,840 trips carrying 1,977,673 passengers - were also held, the National Statistics Office said.

July was the busiest month for trips recording 4,073 - 34.4% of the trips for the quarter.

Sea transport between Mġarr and Ċirkewwa

A total of 1,711,887 passengers travelled between Mġarr and Ċirkewwa - 7.6% more than in the same quarter of 2022.

The highest number of passengers was recorded in August – 597,290 (34.9%) of the total for the quarter. During the same period the previous year, the number of vehicles increased by 1.6%, totalling 580,346.

The number of trips during the third quarter amounted to 9,203, an increase of 0.7% over the same period in 2022. July registered the highest number of trips – 3,104 (33.7%) of the total trips for the quarter.

During January-September, passenger traffic from Ċirkewwa was busiest on Fridays and Saturdays, as was vehicle traffic from Ċirkewwa.

From the Mġarr terminal, passenger traffic was busiest on Sundays and Saturdays, while vehicle traffic was heaviest on Sundays and Mondays.