In the first nine months of the year, the airport reported serving a total of 2.89 million passengers, up 12 percent on the same period last year.

Despite the record, the airport expects a decline in numbers over the winter.

Tallinn Airport spokesperson Aet Härmaorg told ERR the past 12 months have all been records on the month, adding the "all-time record was exceeded in four months: May, June, July and August 2026."

Scheduled flights operated from Tallinn to 41 destinations in September. Passenger growth was driven primarily by no-frills carrier Wizz Air, which has expanded significantly in Tallinn over the past year.

In September, the airline carried 16 percent of all Tallinn Airport passengers and offered connections to nine destinations. airBaltic remained the airport's largest airline, with a market share of 27 percent. In total, 22 airlines operated scheduled and charter flights from Tallinn to more than 50 destinations during the month.

Scheduled flights accounted for 90 percent of passengers, while charter flights accounted for 10 percent. Antalya, Turkey, was the main charter destination, with holiday destinations in Greece and Montenegro also proving popular.

While winter is the off-season, there is a winter travel season, starting September, to destinations in Egypt.

Warsaw was the most popular direct destination for scheduled flights in September, followed by Helsinki, Riga, Stockholm and Frankfurt.

The number of aircraft movements also rose, by 5 percent compared with September last year. There were 4,031 landings and take-offs in total, averaging 134 aircraft movements per day.

Eero Pärgmäe, commercial director at Tallinn Airport, said the passenger records show the summer schedule was exceptionally dense. "The growth that Wizz Air started at the end of last year is still carrying us," Pärgmäe told ERR.

Nonetheless, some developments will lead to a fall in numbers over winter. "airBaltic has said it is cutting its schedule due to the restructuring it is currently carrying out. And the second thing is that, since the price of aviation fuel remains exceptionally high, most carriers have said that the high fuel price is hurting them and they will be scaling back their schedules in winter," Pärgmäe went on.

"If we look at next year, we are moving toward last year's level or even a little below," he added.

Passenger numbers also rose at Estonia's regional airports, which fall under the Tallinn Airport umbrella. Together, they served 9,078 passengers in September, compared with 8,191 in September last year. Tartu Airport took in 4,847 passengers, Kuressaare Airport 3,008 and Kärdla Airport 1,111. Pärnu Airport served 104 passengers and Ruhnu Airfield eight.

Tallinn Airport also says it expects higher passenger numbers during the busy school holiday travel period, October 21-November 4. For this reason the airport recommends arriving at the terminal at least two hours before departure time, as check-in, security screening and passport control can take longer than usual. Passengers arriving by car should allow extra time to find a parking space too.

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