TALLINN - Swedish and Finnish airlines have announced that they will begin flights to Saaremaa this summer to take advantage of the increasing tourist interest in the island's spa facilities.
Sweden's Skyways will launch a flight between Kuressaare, capital of Saaremaa, and Stockholm, while Finland's Aero Airlines said it was about to introduce a similar seasonal route to and from Helsinki.
Skyways said scheduled flights between Kuressaare and Stockholm were scheduled to start May 15 and will be arranged jointly by Saaremaa Spa Hotels, an agency, and Grand Tours, a Swedish spa tour organizer. Skyways said it would make a return trip from Stockholm's Arlanda Airport to Kuressaare every Sunday until Oct. 2.
"If the operation proves a success this year and our partner is satisfied, the period of flights could be extended, and the number of departures increased," Kristiina Saar, sales executive with Saaremaa Spa Hotels, said.
Finland's Aero Airlines will be flying between Helsinki and Kuressaare on Thursdays and Sundays from May 19 to Sept. 11.
Flights from both Helsinki and Stockholm to Saaremaa take approximately one hour. Tour agents are bullish about the new flights' prospects, given the rising interest in spa tourism.
The Statistical Office announced this week that one-fifth of tourists using accommodation services in Estonia in March stayed at convalescent centers. Out of that number 48 percent were Estonian and 42 percent from Finland.
According to the newest data, an Estonian spends an average of slightly more than two days at a convalescent center, but foreigners stay for five days.
In March Estonian establishments accomodated a total of nearly 127,000 tourists, almost 25 percent more than in the same month a year earlier.
Saaremaa Spa Hotels and its Swedish partner said they were satisfied with the number of bookings so far, with June reservations surpassing forecasts. Direct flights to the island's capital cut down on the four-hour bus ride that tourists have to take after a fast boat from Tallinn.
Avies, an Estonian carrier, said it would not launch flights from Riga to Saaremaa due to a lack of interest. Manager Inga Ryazanova told the Baltic News Service that the firm was very interested in the route but had difficulty finding a partner.
"We would first and foremost like to find a partner in Riga, but so far no one suitable has turned up," Ryazanova said. "We got a lot of help from the Latvian Embassy, but things have not made any progress."
The company said it would nevertheless make a couple of flights this summer but does not foresee successful launch of the route. "After the busy summer period we'll resume efforts in this direction in the fall," the manager said.
For the fourth year straight Avies, which was founded in 1991, will make regular charter flights to the Swedish island of Gotland. "We draw up a flight schedule and decide 20 days before the flight whether the flight takes place," said Ryazanova. "If we have at least 10 bookings we can fly."
Saaremaa Laevakompanii (Saaremaa Shipping) launched a boat link to Ventspils from the port of Roomassaare in the southeast part of the island since dredging work in the port of Montu, which lies further south, was not completed in time.
Work in the Montu port will probably be completed in a couple of weeks and then the trips can start from the planned point of departure, according to a Saaremaa Shipping official responsible for the Montu-Ventspils line.
A boat trip from Roomassaare to Ventspils takes five-and-a-half hours, while one from Montu requires around four, said the official.
The route will be served by SLK's ferry Scania, which previously sailed between mainland Estonia and the island of Hiiumaa. The ferry can carry 300 passengers and 60 passenger cars.
