Dubai travel demand from Estonia plunges 77 percent
Estonia The number of travellers to the United Arab Emirates has fallen 77 percent at Estravel compared with the same period last year since the start of the US-Iran military conflict, ERR reported, citing Mauri Saarend, the travel company’s sales director for airline tickets and travel insurance.
“The number of travellers has certainly fallen drastically,” Saarend said. He added that the figure had effectively returned to levels seen during the coronavirus pandemic.
Several airlines, including Finnair, SAS and Norwegian, have announced that they will not operate flights to Dubai during the winter season.
However, Saarend said airlines had also resumed or planned to resume some routes. Qatar Airways has started flying from Helsinki to Doha, the capital of Qatar, while Emirates flights from Helsinki to Dubai are on sale from October. Flydubai is expected to return to Riga and Vilnius in December, and airBaltic flights from Riga remain scheduled.
Turkish Airlines, the carrier most commonly used by Estonian travellers flying to the Middle East, restored its routes to both Abu Dhabi and Dubai some time ago, Saarend said.
Charter flights from Estonia to the United Arab Emirates have not been offered in recent years, he said. The few package tours that have taken place have generally used scheduled flights with connections, while package sales to the United Arab Emirates have been very small compared with tickets for scheduled flights.
Among travel organisers, Tez Tour is offering package trips to Dubai for the winter, and the packages are also available through Estravel.
Saarend said buying flights and accommodation separately generally offered greater savings and more flexibility over travel dates. He added that several hotels in the destination were currently offering substantial discounts to attract customers.
He also pointed to stopovers in Dubai or Abu Dhabi when flying with Emirates or Etihad to Southeast Asia or Oceania as an affordable way to visit the United Arab Emirates. According to Saarend, adding a stopover of several days or longer has only a marginal effect on the price of a long-haul ticket.