Tallinn Airport taking off

TALLINN - Estonian aviation is currently in a growth phase, say international experts in a roundtable discussion held on, Nov. 9, reports ERR. Next year will bring two new carriers and ten new routes in Estonia. The country’s carrier Estonian Air will start flying between Tartu and Tallinn in February. Easyjet will add Liverpool in the spring. New market entrants include Blue 1, which will introduce a Tallinn-Helsinki route in late January, and Ryanair, which will fly to seven destinations.

Tallinn Airport management board member Erik Sakkov told ETV news he considered Ryanair’s arrival the most positive news. “The big plus with Ryanair is not that it will start flying and bring tourists, it is that it won’t take away market share from anyone else and will bring completely new people to Estonia who buy the ticket because of its price,” said Sakkov.
At the same time experts at the roundtable cautioned that flights to existing destinations should be made more frequent rather than just introducing new cities. “Destinations and frequency must be in balance. There are not enough flights to key destinations. There must be more flights for business customers to allow them to fly back the same day, carrying nothing but a briefcase,” said Lufthansa Consulting chief consultant Stanislav Solomko.

CEO of the Tallinn Airport, Rein Loik, stated on Oct. 27 that the air traffic in Estonia is clearly becoming more active.
The Tallinn City government on Nov. 10 announced the intention to draw on a detailed plan that would make it possible to establish an airport for private jets and small aircraft. At the same time, the passenger flow grows for Estonian Air. In September, year-on-year, Estonian Air carried 12.3 percent more passengers overall, or 57,398 persons.