Although Eckerö Linjen is now alone in the short-haul traffic between Åland and Sweden, the total passenger volume on the short route increased by 256 guests in April this year compared to April 2022. In April 2023, 84,524 guests traveled with M/S Eckerö, compared to April 2022 when 84,168 guests, including Rosella's passenger number, traveled on one of the short routes. It is noteworthy that Rosella was out of service for part of April 2022. Eckerö Linjen's guest volume in April 2022 was 71,516 guests. 

”"Of course, the increased number of travelers on our ship is mainly due to the fact that we are currently operating alone on the short route - but at the same time, it is still gratifying to see that Åland as a destination is now starting to truly recover from just over two years of pandemic and closed borders," says Tomas Karlsson, CEO of Eckerö Linjen. 

There were also a large number of passenger cars transported on M/S Eckerö in April, a total of 13,978, which is an increase of 2,111 passenger cars compared to April 2022 for Eckerö Linjen. Overall, there was a small decrease of just over 5 % (780 passenger cars) on the short route compared to last year. 

”"We are happy that so many have travelled with us and we will continue to do our best to take care of all guests who want to travel with us to and from Åland. We are monitoring the booking situation to add extra departures as much as possible. It is the car deck spaces during the early and late summer weekends that are the challenge. This mainly involves four departures per week. Two departures to Åland on Fridays, afternoon and evening, and two departures from Åland on Sundays. On other departures and days, there is usually plenty of space on the car deck. Thanks to the fact that we can offer connecting bus services on both the Swedish and Åland sides, we can always offer alternatives. When we enter the summer, car travel is spread in a completely different way, on all days of the week," concludes Karlsson.

According to the press release.