On the other hand, the company's fleet carried fewer ro-ro cargo units, down by 8.7% year-on-year to 59,522.
"The beginning of 2022 was challenging. The omicron variant of the COVID virus rapidly spread through society and affected demand. Passenger volumes again declined, and we were forced to increase the degree of staff furloughs. In early February, these measures took effect, but the markets recovered in conjunction with the annual winter break. This recovery continued during the report period, and the summer got off to a promising start," Jan Hanses, Viking Line's President & CEO, commented.
He also said, "On March 1, the new Viking Glory launched service on the Turku-Åland-Stockholm route. The vessel has been well received by the market. Viking Glory [serving the Helsinki-Tallinn crossing] has also performed well and made a significant contribution to the results for the report period, especially to second quarter earnings."