Thousands of Maltese decided to take advantage of the long weekend and made the traditional trip to Gozo to relax and take a break during Santa Marjia weekend, with a total of 48,525 passengers making the trip between Friday and Sunday.

Sources close to the Gozo Channel explained to The Malta Independent that between Monday 11 and Sunday 17 August, there were a total of 114,417 passengers and 27,019 vehicles that crossed over.

Between Friday 15 and Sunday 17 August, the Gozo Channel ferried 48,525 passengers and another 10,889 vehicles.

Since this year the public holiday fell on a Friday, many Maltese took advantage of the long weekend and went to Gozo on Thursday. In fact, there were 17,755 passengers and 4,050 vehicles ferried on Thursday 14 August.

Last year, a total of 114,695 people, and 26,602 vehicles travelled to Gozo between 10 and 16 August.

Although the influx of Maltese was very high last weekend, there were very few complaints about queues. In fact, the Gozo Channel made a few extra trips to keep up with the demand with all three ferries operating last week.

However, sources explained that more Maltese are expected to visit their sister island this week, especially since many companies are still closed for the annual summer shutdown.

“Last year was a boom year for Gozo Channel with the highest number of passengers and vehicles making the trip to Gozo and if this year’s figures don’t change, this year’s figures will surpass that of 2007,” sources said.