TALLINN - Estonian Air reported a 39 percent increase in the number of passengers it carried in November as compared with a year ago. According to the airline, it served 36,770 passengers last month, with an average occupancy of flights that month at 55 percent. Over the 11 months of the year the airline has carried 377,500 passengers.
Epp Alatalu, press spokesperson of Estonian Air, said that fleet changes and pricing were key reasons for the improved results.
While last year Estonian Air was using three Boeings with 107 seats and one 48-seat Fokket, the company's fleet now boasts four Boeings with 113 seats.
The other important factor was pricing, and Alatalu said the airline lowered its prices between 30 percent and 60 percent.
In November, when Estonian Air implemented a new ticket price system based on one-way tickets, the company also stressed the importance of direct sales channels, especially Internet sales.
There are now 4,800 registered customers in the airline's online sales system, and last month 55,000 customers booked tickets online.
In terms of destinations, Copenhagen, Stockholm, London and Paris ranked highest among favorites, and Oslo stood out as the most popular of the routes opened this year.
Estonian Air stated that its objective remained to carry a total of 400,000 people by the end of the year.
On Dec. 1 Estonian Air celebrated its 12th anniversary by offering 34,700 tickets at 600 kroons (39 euros) one-way to a variety of destinations.
