Tartu hopes to attract more airline routes to the city in coming years
As it continues supporting the relaunched Tartu–Helsinki air route, the City of Tartu hopes airlines will eventually open more market-based routes from the city. With the Tartu–Riga train launch still delayed, many foreign visitors continue to travel to Estonia's second city by bus.
Since its relaunch last year, Tartu Airport has served a Tartu–Helsinki air route operated by Finnair, but the high-speed rail connection to Riga — planned for Tartu's European Capital of Culture year — still has yet to launch.
According to Minister of Infrastructure Kuldar Leis (Reform), who previously served as CEO of Tartu 2024, most visitors to Southern Estonia last year arrived by bus or car. For visitors coming from further away, however, air connections are vital.
The City of Tartu is currently supporting the Finnair route for a four-year period, and Mayor Urmas Klaas (Reform) believes that if the route continues to operate, interest in launching market-based flights from Estonia's second city will increase significantly.
"Tartu and Southern Estonia have significant tourism and business potential," Klaas highlighted. "With faster, more convenient connections, we could definitely organize even more scientific conferences."
Eero Loonurm, who works with foreign students and conferences in Estonia, stressed that the faster one can get to Estonia in person, the better, so faster connections are key to Tartu remaining an important host for scientists, international students and conferences.
He highlighted that surveys indicate that foreign visitors staying in Tartu are three times as likely to visit other regions and destinations in Estonia as those who stay in Tallinn.
"Second, a foreign visitor staying in Tartu is more than four times more likely to stay an extra night after the conference has ended compared to a visitor staying in Tallinn," he added.
Most foreign visitors to Southern Estonia and Tartu come from Latvia. A direct Tartu–Riga rail link is expected to launch by year's end, but for now, passengers still have to change trains at the border in Valga, and both the bus and train take longer than driving from Riga would.
At the Ministry of Climate, Leis said while high-speed rail connections with Tallinn and Riga are needed, maintaining the Tartu–Helsinki air route remains the top priority for flights, given the limited feasibility of other air connections.
"I don't see an air connection to Riga happening because the distance is too short and it wouldn't be profitable," the infrastructure minister said, adding that neither Estonia nor Latvia would be willing to subsidize a Tartu–Riga air route.
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Editor: Marko Tooming, Aili Vahtla
