More than 10 million passengers through the Port of Helsinki

Last year, for the first time, more than 10 million ship passengers passed through the Port of Helsinki. The passenger total in 2011 rose to 10.3 million, which signifies an increase of 5% over the comparison period. That figure is in the same category as the number of international passengers at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport every year.

The 10 millionth ship passenger in the Port of Helsinki was kindergarten teacher Irene Reidla from Estonia. She arrived at West Harbour on a Tallink ship on 20 December and, much to her surprise, was greeted with joyous congratulations from the Port and the shipping companies.

The Port of Helsinki is the largest passenger port in Finland, and the third largest around the Baltic Sea. The share of the Port of Helsinki of the passenger traffic in all the ports in Finland was 77%. Passenger traffic has grown steadily over the years, and last year the threshold of 10 million passengers was exceeded.

The previous boundary marks were:
1 million passengers in 1975
5 million passengers in 1992
10 million passengers in 2011

The most popular line is between Helsinki and Tallinn, where the number of passengers this year will be almost 7.3 million. According to the shipping companies, 10–20% of the Tallinn traffic is work-based traffic. The second busiest line is between Helsinki and Stockholm, with 2.4 million passengers. Traffic to Stockholm consists mainly of tourists. The ship connection to St Petersburg, which was opened in April 2010, has also been popular. Last year that line carried 240,000 passengers.

In addition to line traffic, 385,000 cruise passengers visited Helsinki during the cruise season last summer.