In April, over 266 thousand passengers were served at Tallinn Airport, which makes an average of nearly 9,000 passengers a day. Among the number of passengers, what is particularly noticeable is the 21.3% growth in charter flights. According to Eero Pärgmäe, Commercial Director of Tallinn Airport, the exponential growth in charter flights was brought about by the more frequent schedule of charter flights to Antalya: “Starting from mid-April there were 1-3 daily flights to Antalya, served by as many as six airlines: Onur Air, Pegasus, Freebird, SmartLynx, Tailwind and Turkish Airlines. This summer, everybody will definitely find a suitable holiday destination for charter or direct flights,” Pärgmäe added. At the end of May and in early June, new routes will be opened to Malaga and Minsk.
In April, 7.2% more seats than last year were added to scheduled flights. Growth took place mainly in the low-cost airline segment, which also led to an increase in average occupancy. Compared to a year ago, Wizzair flights to Kiev and London, Ryanair connections to Edinburgh and Berlin, Norwegian flights to Stockholm and easyJet flights to London and Milan have been added. The added flights help compensate changes of Nordica in the air network.
As the summer season approaches, peak hours in air traffic will become more laborious. The highest number of flights was between 17-19 when there were up to 13 flights per hour. “Summer is the high season of flying, and the flight schedule is tighter. We recommend that passengers reserve more time for arrival at the airport in order to make boarding for the flight pleasant and peaceful,” Pärgmäe suggested.
At the end of March last year, Finnair transitioned to a new schedule at Tartu Airport, which increased the number of passengers on Tartu-Helsinki-Tartu route by 20% compared to the previous year and by 9.4% compared to March. “Introducing innovations take time. The new schedule supports travelers in the European direction and business travelers, and we are happy to note that this line has been found and the number of passengers is increasing,” said Pärgmäe.
