During the fourth quarter of the previous year, 772,424 passengers used the Malta-Gozo ferries to cross from one island to the other, implying an increase of 7.6 per cent over the same quarter of 2005, the National Statistics Office reported yesterday. The total number of passenger vehicles carried by the ferries increased by 9.8 per cent to 218,461 over the corresponding quarter in 2005.

In the quarter under review, 4,691 trips were made between Malta and Gozo, representing an increase of 3.9 per cent over the same quarter in 2005. The MV Malita carried 265,021 passengers or 34.3 per cent of the total passengers in this quarter. The other two Gozo Channel ferries, MV Ta’ Pinu and MV Gaudos, carried 244,193 and 263,210 passengers respectively.