In the 4th quarter 2018, passengers at national airports amounted to 12.6 million, representing a 6.2% growth (+4.3% in 3Q). There were also increases in passenger rail transport, both by heavy rail (+5.0%; +3.7% in 3Q) and by light rail systems (+5.1%, after +3.7% in 3Q). Inland waterways passenger transport grew by 7.2% (+3.3% in 3Q).
The national maritime ports registered reductions in the number (-6.5%) and gross tonnage (-0.6%) of vessels (-2.5% and -0.4% in 3Q, respectively), along with a 2.4% decrease in goods handled (-2.1% in 3Q).
Rail freight transport fell by 8.4% to 2.6 million tonnes, despite a growth in transport volume (+1.4% in tonnes-km). There was a 1.8% increase in road freight transport (+0.9% tonnes in 3Q), with national transport outstanding (+5.1%; +0.3% in 3Q).
Preliminary results for 2018 show an increase in air traffic in terms of passengers (+6.8%), but slowing down compared to the previous year (+16.2% in 2017). In heavy rail, light rail and inland waterways transport, slowdowns were also observed, but more slightly: +4.0%, +3.7% and +3.3% in 2018, respectively, following +6.0%, +5.1% and +5.5% in the previous year, in the same order.
In relation to freight transport, in 2018 there were increases in the number of tonnes handled at airports (+5.1%) and by road (+0.1%) and stabilisation by railway, corresponding to decelerations in relation to the increases registered in 2017 (+19.2%, +6.1% and +2.0%, respectively). In the maritime ports activity, there was a decrease of 3.2%, after a 2.2% rise in the previous year.