Covid in Scotland: NorthLink ferry passengers down 71% on last year
- Published
Passenger numbers on Northern Isles ferry services were down more than 70% between March and November on the same period last year.
Serco NorthLink said passenger numbers across all routes were 80,804 from 22 March to 30 November.
This was down from 296,716 over the same period in 2019, a reduction of 71%.
In November specifically, the numbers were 7,410, down from 16,049 in the same month last year, a 54% fall.
Travel restrictions were first introduced in March.
Car volumes from 22 March to 30 November were 30,317, down 61% on the 78,550 recorded in the same period in 2019.
In November, car volumes were at 2,699 compared to 4,182 in 2019, a reduction of 35%.
'We are heartened'
Freight volumes were said to have remained "strong".
Stuart Garrett, Serco's managing director of NorthLink Ferries, said: "As we get closer to Christmas we continue to see reduced footfall but are heartened by the strengthening of passenger and car volumes which has continued throughout autumn.
"We're particularly pleased to have been able to support another successful livestock season with freight volumes holding up particularly strongly throughout the crisis.
"With our 2021 booking system now open, we look forward to a return towards normality."
Serco NorthLink sails from Aberdeen to Orkney and Shetland.
- Published6 February 2020
