Tallinn Airport sets all‑time passenger record in August
In August, nearly 390,000 passengers passed through Tallinn Airport, which is the best monthly result in the airport's history and 16 percent more than at the same time last year.
In the first eight months of the year, the airport has served 2.54 million passengers, or 11 percent more than in the same period last year.
Growth was driven mainly by the low‑cost airline Wizz Air, which has expanded rapidly in Tallinn over the past year. In August, the airline served 18 percent of all Tallinn Airport passengers and offered connections to nine destinations.
AirBaltic retained its position as the largest airline with a 29‑percent market share. In total, 19 airlines offered regular and charter flights from Tallinn to nearly 50 destinations.
"Passenger growth has remained strong throughout the summer, and the new record set in August shows that demand for air travel is still high. We are pleased to see that passengers have welcomed the increased capacity and new routes offered by airlines. During the winter season starting at the end of October, the route network will become somewhat smaller compared to summer, as usual, but from Tallinn it will still be possible to fly to 39 direct destinations and conveniently continue travel via Europe's major hub airports," said Tallinn Airport board member Eero Pärgmäe.
The vast majority, 94 percent of passengers used regular flights in August, while charter flights accounted for six percent. Charter passengers traveled mostly to Antalya, and to a lesser extent to holiday regions in Greece, Montenegro and Bulgaria.
The most popular direct regular route in August was Warsaw, followed by Helsinki, Riga, Frankfurt and Stockholm.
An average of 130 flight operations per day
The number of flight operations increased in August by five percent compared to the same month last year. A total of 4047 landings and takeoffs took place, averaging 130 operations per day.
During the winter season starting at the end of October, it will be possible to fly from Tallinn to 39 direct destinations. Eurowings will continue operating the Tallinn–Düsseldorf route opened this summer also in winter. AirBaltic will continue flying on the Vienna route opened in summer and will offer connections to a total of 12 destinations from Tallinn during winter. Wizz Air will operate seven routes from Tallinn in winter.
During the Christmas tourism season, Jet2.com will also increase flights, connecting Tallinn with five UK cities instead of the previous three. Flights will operate from Manchester, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Leeds Bradford and London Gatwick. The airline has nearly twice as many tickets on sale for Tallinn routes as last winter season, and around 10,000 UK passengers are expected to visit Estonia on these flights.
Fifteen airlines will offer regular flights from Tallinn Airport during the winter season: airBaltic, Eurowings, Finnair, Jet2.com, LOT, Lufthansa, Norwegian, Nyxair, Pegasus Airlines, Ryanair, SAS, SunExpress, SWISS, Turkish Airlines and Wizz Air.
Pärnu Airport served 33 passengers in a month
Estonia's regional airports served a total of 6787 passengers in August, compared to 8575 passengers in the same month last year. The decline in passenger numbers was related to reconstruction work at Kuressaare Airport from 10–31 August, during which the airport was closed to air traffic for three weeks.
Tartu Airport served 3998 passengers, Kärdla Airport 1558, and Kuressaare Airport 1121 passengers. Pärnu Airport handled 33 passengers, and Ruhnu airfield 77 passengers.
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Editor: Urmet Kook, Argo Ideon
