Estonian Air’s new plan sent to the government

TALLINN – Estonia's national carrier Estonian Air has sent a plan to the government on its flight schedule till September 28, containing ten destinations instead of the nine mentioned earlier, Eesti Paevaleht writes.

Estonian Air's overhaul plan will be reviewed by the Cabinet on Thursday and a decision on how the company will move forward is expected to be made in early February.

Supervisory board member Erki Urva said it was too early to disclose the specifics of the draft plan such as spending figures, Postimees reported.

The government decided in December to lend Estonian Air 8.3 million euros, which the minister of economic affairs, Juhan Parts, has said would save the company from bankruptcy until March.

The European Commission is currently reviewing the Estonian government's request to bail out the airline.

"The new plan focuses on balancing the company and servicing a route network consisting of ten strong destinations," said Estonian Air's manager Jan Palmer.

Earlier, nine destinations have been mentioned. Now the summer flight plan includes Stockholm, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Brussels, Oslo, Moscow, St Petersburg, Kiev, Vilnius and Trondheim. Considering the summer tourism season Estonian Air flies to Nice, in March school break and summer to Paris. Flights to Paris and Helsinki take place till the end of January and flights to Vienna till the end of March.

Palmer said that talks are under way to operate other companies' European routes with Estonian Air planes. "Restructuring proceeds according to plan but a lot is yet to be done," said Palmer.