40 direct routes and new destinations: Tallinn Airport’s winter schedule will see its highest ever number of seats go on sale

This winter, a total of 17 airlines will be operating direct flights out of Tallinn on 40 different routes. The number of tickets on sale for the season is record-breaking for the airport, having increased by 10% on the same period last year. Never before have regular flights been offered between the Estonian capital and the Canary Islands, but passengers will now get to choose between Gran Canaria and Tenerife as their destination. Meanwhile, skiing enthusiasts will enjoy a new destination this winter: Geneva. The transition to the winter schedule traditionally takes places on the same day that daylight savings comes to an end, on the last Sunday in October.

The choice of holiday destinations this winter includes many popular favourites, but also features cities to which flights were not available during the last winter season. These include Gran Canaria and Tenerife on the Canary Islands, to which airBaltic will be flying, and Athens and Antalya, to which Aegean and SunExpress, respectively, will be continuing to fly during winter for the first time. Similarly, flights to the city of Malaga on the south coast of Spain were previously only available in certain months, but the ‘Pearl of Andalusia’ has become such a favourite among Estonian travellers that they can now fly there year-round. Connections with Paphos and Dublin have also returned to the schedule, while flights to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Barcelona, Zurich, Copenhagen and other big cities continue to be offered.

Starting from December, to the delight of snow-lovers, airBaltic will be operating weekly flights to Geneva and Salzburg, while services to Milan, Munich, Zurich, Vienna, Venice Treviso and Kutaisi continue to serve as gateways to ski resorts.

There will be four charter-flight destinations from Tallinn this winter, for which tickets must be booked through travel agencies: Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada, Tenerife and, most excitingly of all, Aqaba in Jordan.

AS Tallinna Lennujaam board member Eero Pärgmäe says there will be an average of 80 flights and more than 6000 passengers passing through the airport each day during the winter season. “There’s something for everyone among the direct-flight destinations available, whether you’re looking for a city break, a beach vacation or a skiing holiday,” he said. “And more importantly, there’ll be more flights to key hubs, ensuring better connections for business travel.”

There will be more flights on a number of popular business routes – for example, Finnair will be flying to Helsinki as many as nine times a day. The biggest changes during the winter season, however, will be on the Tallinn-Vilnius route, with flight times being more geared towards business travellers: there will be additional morning departures from Monday to Thursday, while evening flights will depart earlier than they currently are. The new schedule will enable one-day, direct-flight trips to be made to the Lithuanian capital from Tuesday to Thursday. Nine weekly flights to Oslo and 10 weekly flights to London will further add to the winter schedule.

Since passengers from Estonia fly to more than 1000 destinations throughout the year, stopovers remain very important for the country in terms of both business and leisure travel. “Almost 50% of our departing passengers catch connecting flights at major hubs, significantly increasing the number of everyday connections and destinations for both entrepreneurs and holidaymakers,” Pärgmäe explained. “Winter will see more flights to Helsinki and Istanbul and an additional evening flight to Amsterdam. And if you plan far enough in advance, tickets are still available at decent prices.”