The passengers are back at Port of Hirtshals

After two years of COVID-19 restrictions, car and passenger traffic at Port of Hirtshals has returned in earnest. The number of cars in 2022 was even higher than in 2019, when traffic was not affected by the pandemic, while July 2022 was the best month ever measured in terms of both cars and the number of passengers.

780,000 cars and more than 2.3 million passengers. This is the status of car and passenger traffic through the Port of Hirtshals in 2022, which is thus back to normal from before COVID.

In 2020 and 2021, car and passenger traffic were strongly affected by COVID restrictions and lockdowns, but in 2022 car and passenger traffic returned in earnest to Port of Hirtshals. July 2022 also set a monthly record with more than 190,000 cars and almost 630,000 passengers, which is the highest number ever at Port of Hirtshals.

Due to the COVID restrictions, there was extra space for freight transport on the ferries in 2020 and 2021, because the number of cars fell significantly. This led to an extraordinarily high level of activity in freight transport in these years. This additional on-board capacity was not available in 2022, which has been felt by a slight decrease of 3.8 percent in freight transport from 2021 to 2022.

- It is very positive that we are now back at the level from before COVID, and for booth goods, trucks and cars we are above the level in 2019. This emphasises the important position and location of Port of Hirtshals for the transport of both goods and passengers throughout Scandinavia and the North Atlantic, says Per Holm Nørgaard and continues:

- This progress also clarifies the need for the upcoming port expansion, which should, among other things, make it possible to call at the Port of Hirtshals with larger ships than is possible today, and not least increase maritime safety when calling in rough weather.