COVID-19 has left its mark on aviation and has affected where and to what extent investments are being made and what additional opportunities are being created for passengers and partners. Hasan Steinberg, Air Cargo Development Manager at Tallinn Airport, reveals how to make an airport of a small country a more important stopover for technical and cargo flights in the region.
The region’s longest runway is open 24/7
Estonia is known for its endless forests and beautiful bogs, but the country is equally well known also as a ‘digital’ and IT country. In addition to the airport in Tallinn, there are 6 other airports in the country, the state contributes to the development of infrastructure and, the centre of the capital, as well as the port, are located only 5 kilometres from the airport. Furthermore, Tallinn Airport is well located on the world map, being the closest European Union capital to China. This paves the way for Tallinn Airport to become the region’s hub for Asian and American flights. To confirm this, Tallinn Airport is already gaining popularity as a convenient tech stop location between Asia and North America.
What makes our airport so special? In addition to being well positioned on the world map, Tallinn Airport is located in the city centre. Such a rare solution in the region allows the arriving crew to get to and from the accommodation in about 10 minutes and take out maximum of the rest times, as Tallinn Airport is easily and quickly accessible to the flight crews. The 3480-metre runway in Tallinn is the longest in the region and there is quick and flexible support from the technical and maintenance team of Magnetic MRO for all common types of aircraft.
As a service platform, it is very important for an airport to offer flexibility to take off and land at any time, being slot-free and open 24/7. Our goal is fast response times, flexible conditions and world-class service and cooperation with both, the airport and partner institutions.
One of our biggest recent projects is in collaboration with the Wamos Air team, who has set up Tallinn as its technical stopover just for these reasons.
Wamos Air have said, that they are satisfied with the commitment here, at Tallinn Airport. “At Wamos Air we could not be more satisfied with the efficiency, commitment and agility that the Tallinn airport brings us. The entire team works with the utmost precision and involvement in each of our cargo operations.”
Long-term cooperation with Wamos Airlines confirms that the ability of Tallinn Airport to succeed as a transit station creates several advantages. Airports’ duties should no longer be limited to the operation of buildings and airfields, but should aim at being an excellent host and providing efficient solutions and convenience to all operators and their crews during their short visits through the airports.
Growing into the largest cargo hub of the region
However, Tallinn Airport is moving towards a bigger goal of becoming a cargo hub of the region. The infrastructure development activities provide for a modern and forward-looking greener infrastructure for both, the MRO as well as cargo handling companies to service the aircraft. To date, Tallinn Airport has brought itself to the world map as the MRO centre in Europe, and Estonia’s geographical location at the gateway to Europe and Asia has the potential to increase both, the volume of goods as well as the portfolio of MRO services through the Airport City to be set up.
