TALLINN - TALLINN Airport will undergo a major overhaul in the next 18 months which will allow it to nearly double passenger numbers and host more airlines. On Feb. 9 airport operators announced they expect to receive 830 million kroons (53 million euro) in European Union Cohesion funding to allow them to complete the much-awaited renovation. Construction will soon begin on a 200-meter annex containing nine new boarding bridges extending out from the existing building.
The current building will also be extended by 18 meters on either side.
The new gallery will add 13,000 square meters of space to the terminal, which will be able to handle a total of 2.3 million passengers each year.
Separate waiting lounges will be built for EU and Schengen area passengers and for those flying outside the EU. Airside, new plant and animal inspection areas will be built.
But passengers have been warned to expect disruptions during the construction work, which is expected to be finished by summer 2008. Two of the existing five air bridges will be out of action during the building work. Airport officials said passengers would be taken to and from their planes by tarmac buses.
Along with EU funding, the airport will borrow 500 million kroons from the Nordic Investment Bank, bringing the total renovation bill to 1.3 billion kroons.
Rein Loik, chairman of Tallinn Airport, said the new facilites were required to match the expected growth in air traffic.
"Although the passenger numbers will not develop so fast as [in] Riga airport, we expect they will increase as the Estonian economy is developing very fast," Loik told The Baltic Times.
Last year the airport carried 1.54 million passengers, an increase of 10 percent from the previous year. A similar level of growth has been predicted for the current year.
Airlines have already anounced new routes connecting Tallinn to its near-neighbors.
The budget airline FlyNordic will soon recommence its Stockholm route, which it suspended during the winter. Dutch airline KLM announced it would double the number of flights by increasing its Amsterdam run from daily to twice daily. And a new Swedish airline, City Airline, will soon open a route to Gothenburg.
Loik played down talk of the possibility of giant budget airline Ryanair commencing a route from the U.K. to Tallinn.
Estonian regulators remain locked in discussions with Ryanair, which is known for its aggressive negotiating methods and demands for tax incentives and landing fee discounts.
"It is well known that Ryanair negotiates very tough," Loik said.
"They have promised to bring half a million passengers a year, which is very exciting for us, but there is quite a long way to go."
Landing fees remain a major stumbling block. While Ryanair is demanding a discount because of its large passenger volume, Tallinn Airport is adamant that all airlines must compete on a level playing field.
"Our strong position is that we have the same fees for everybody so there is no discrimination, and it is not easy to reduce fees as much as might be expected," Loik said.
Loik also talked down a previously-mooted prospect of relocating the airport to a greenfield site. He said the airport would remain at its Ulemiste location for at least twenty years.
