APRIL VOLUMES: FREIGHT GROWTH IN MOST AREAS
| INVESTOR NEWS no. 17 - 12 May 2026 |
Ferry – freight: In April 2026, total volumes of 3.6m lane metres were 2.0% above 2025 and up 1.9% adjusted for route changes.
North Sea volumes were above 2025 following higher volumes on several routes. Mediterranean volumes were overall above 2025 driven by high growth on the Egypt and Tunisia routes.
Channel volumes were below 2025 driven by slightly lower volumes on the Dover Strait in line with the total market development. Baltic Sea volumes were well above 2025 and Strait of Gibraltar volumes were also above 2025.
For the last twelve months, the total transported freight lane metres increased 0.8% to 41.8m from 41.5m in 2025-24 and decreased 1.1% adjusted for route changes.
Ferry – passenger: In April 2026, the number of passengers adjusted for route changes decreased 8.1% to 416k compared to 2025. The decrease was mainly due to Easter falling earlier in April this year versus mid-April in 2025. This entailed a positive pre-holiday travel impact in March 2026 rather than in April. In addition, there were fewer departures on Strait of Gibraltar due to operational issues.
For the last twelve months, the total number of passengers decreased 20.6% to 5.0m compared to 6.3m in 2025-24. The decrease was 5.2% adjusted for route changes.
| DFDS ferry volumes | |||||||||
| April | Last-12-months | ||||||||
| Freight | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Change | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Change | |
| Lane metres, '000 | 3,497 | 3,481 | 3,553 | 2.0% | 39,611 | 41,522 | 41,846 | 0.8% | |
| Passenger | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Change | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Change | |
| Passengers, '000 | 507 | 496 | 416 | -16.1% | 5,099 | 6,332 | 5,026 | -20.6% | |
DFDS reports monthly ferry volumes for freight and passengers to provide insight into the development of volume trends in our European route network enabling trade and travel in and around Europe. The May 2026 volume report is expected to be published on 11 June 2026 at around 10.00am CET.
Contact
Karen Boesen, CFO & Interim CEO +45 20 58 58 40
Søren Brøndholt Nielsen, IR +45 33 42 33 59
Dennis Kjærsgaard, Media +45 42 30 38 47
About DFDS
We operate a transport network in and around Europe with an annual revenue of DKK 30bn and 15,000 full-time employees.
We move goods in trailers by ferry, road & rail, and we offer complementary transport and logistics solutions.
We also move car and foot passengers on short sea and overnight ferry routes.
DFDS was founded in 1866 and headquartered and listed in Copenhagen.
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