Tallinn Airport sets passenger record in August

Nearly 390,000 passengers used Tallinn Airport in August, its best monthly result ever and 16 percent more than during the same month last year, ERR reported. In the first eight months of the year, the airport served 2.54 million passengers, an 11 percent increase year on year.

Growth was driven mainly by low-cost carrier Wizzair, which has expanded significantly in Tallinn over the past year. The airline carried 18 percent of all Tallinn Airport passengers in August and offered connections to nine destinations.

Air Baltic retained its position as the largest airline, with a 29 percent market share. In total, 19 airlines operated scheduled and charter flights from Tallinn to almost 50 destinations.

“Passenger numbers have remained strong throughout the summer, and the new record set in August shows that demand for air travel remains high,” said Eero Pärgmäe, a member of the management board of Tallinn Airport. He said passengers had responded well to additional capacity and new routes offered by airlines.

The winter season, which begins at the end of October, will have a somewhat smaller route network than the summer season. However, passengers will still be able to fly directly from Tallinn to 39 destinations and continue their journeys through major European hub airports, Pärgmäe said.

Scheduled flights accounted for 94 percent of passenger traffic in August, while charter flights made up 6 percent. Antalya was the most popular charter destination, followed by holiday destinations in Greece, Montenegro and Bulgaria.

Warsaw was the most popular direct scheduled route, followed by Helsinki, Riga, Frankfurt and Stockholm.

Jet2.com to add routes for winter season

The number of flight operations increased by 5 percent in August compared with the same month last year. There were 4,047 landings and takeoffs, an average of 130 flight operations per day.

Eurowings will continue operating its Tallinn to Düsseldorf route, which opened this summer, during the winter season. Air Baltic will also continue its summer route to Vienna and will offer connections from Tallinn to 12 destinations in total. Wizzair will operate seven routes from Tallinn.

Jet2.com will increase its flights during the Christmas tourism season, connecting Tallinn with five British cities instead of the current three. Flights will operate from Manchester, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Leeds Bradford and London Gatwick.

The airline has nearly twice as many tickets on sale for its Tallinn routes as during the previous winter season and expects to bring about 10,000 passengers from the United Kingdom to Estonia.

Fifteen airlines will offer scheduled flights from Tallinn during the winter season: Air Baltic, Eurowings, Finnair, Jet2.com, LOT, Lufthansa, Norwegian, Nyxair, Pegasus Airlines, Ryanair, SAS, SunExpress, SWISS, Turkish Airlines and Wizzair.

Regional airports serve fewer passengers

Estonia’s regional airports served a total of 6,787 passengers in August, compared with 8,575 during the same month last year.

The decline was linked to reconstruction work at Kuressaare Airport, which was closed to air traffic for three weeks from August 10 to 31.

Tartu Airport served 3,998 passengers, Kärdla Airport 1,558 and Kuressaare Airport 1,121. Pärnu Airport served 33 passengers and Ruhnu airfield 77.