Lake Balaton Ferries Could Break 30-Year Record by the End of the Year

After an outstanding summer season, the 177th season closed on October 23 with 2.074 million passengers, reports turizmus.com. Passenger ships carried 721,000 people, up 4% on the previous year and 2.5% on 2019.

So far, 1.353 million passengers have boarded the ferries, 18,000 more than in the same period in 2022 and 49,000 more than in 2019. By the end of the year, the number of passengers transported on the ferries could reach 1.4 million, which could break a 30-year record.

Bahart (Balaton Shipping Company) owes its outstanding results in part to the scheduled ships that operated between settlements, carrying 530,000 passengers this season.

The most popular routes in 2023 were the Siófok-Balatonfüred-Tihany-Balatonföldvár route, carrying 227,000 passengers, while the Fonyód-Badacsony route carried 191,000.

145,000 passengers took the pleasure and nostalgia boats, 8,000 more than last year and 10,000 more than in 2019. The most popular ports were Siófok (southern shore), Balatonfüred (northern shore), and Keszthely (western shore). The party boats were most favored in Balatonlelle (southern shore), Siófok and Balatonfüred, while the magic boats attracted the most passengers in Keszthely, Balatonmáriafürdő (southern shore) and Balatonlelle. The Balatonfüred catamaran, operating between Fonyód (southern shore) and Badacsony (northern shore), carried the most passengers, 118,000, followed by the Siófok and the Badacsony catamarans, the Saint Nicholas and the Szigliget motorboats.

August was the busiest month of the year, but the autumn months are also generating above average traffic.

The number of bicycles carried on passenger ships this season was 27 percent higher than last year, reaching 39,000, while the number on ferries exceeded 126,000, an increase of 16 percent. The number of vehicles transported by ferry so far has reached 423,000.

The popularity of Bahart’s online ticketing platform has increased in line with the number of passengers. This year, 69,000 people have already bought digital tickets, compared to 51,000 in 2022.

Although the last of this year’s scheduled passenger ships sailed on October 23, Bahart’s unique program ships and pleasure boats departing during the autumn break will continue to welcome travelers. In addition, the ferries run every day of the year. Until November 5, they depart from Szántód (southern shore) from 6.40 a.m to 6.40 p.m and from Tihany from 7 a.m to 7 p.m departing every 40 minutes, and thereafter every 60 minutes.

A new feature compared to previous years is that extra cruises from Balatonfüred and Siófok will be operated during the autumn break.

There will also be a sightseeing boat at to Tihany during November, while on December 2, visitors can take a trip on Santa Claus boats from Balatonfüred and Siófok.

Via turizmus.com, Featured image via Facebook/Balatoni Hajózási Zrt.