Estonian airports served more than 3.5 million passengers in 2024

The seven main airports and airfields in Estonia – Tallinn, Tartu, Pärnu, Kuressaare, Kärdla, Kihnu and Ruhnu – served more than 3.5 million passengers in 2024. This included a record-breaking 3,491,677 travellers at Tallinn Airport, representing an 18% increase on 2023.

A total of 87,636 passengers passed through the country’s regional airports, which was 39% more than in the previous year. The main reason for this growth was the successful launch of regular flights between Tartu and Helsinki. Kuressaare served 42,490 passengers, Tartu 27,270, Kärdla 15,307, Ruhnu 1472 and Pärnu 1097.

Tallinn Airport offered direct flights to 60 destinations in 2024, of which 44 were regular routes and 16 were served by charter flights. Almost a third of all passengers travelling on regular flights flew to the four main hubs in the region: Stockholm (10.1%), Riga (9.6%), Helsinki (9.5%) and Frankfurt (9.3%).

The largest numbers of passengers were served by airBaltic (26.6%), Ryanair (18%), Lufthansa (10.2%) and Finnair (8.7%). In total, 42,403 flights operated at Tallinn Airport in 2024 – an average of 116 take-offs and landings per day, marking 11% growth year on year.

Eero Pärgmäe, a member of the management board of AS Tallinna Lennujaam, describes the rise in passenger numbers as extraordinary. “Those results were driven by a lot of hard work over a number of years in terms of selling destinations, which significantly boosted the number of tickets on sale in 2024,” he explained. “The summer season saw an increase in available flights of 23% compared to the year before. We’re delighted that people in Estonia have lost none of their enthusiasm for travelling, which is why demand for tickets remains so strong. Plus it’s encouraging that the number of tourists flying into Estonia increased in 2024 as well, due in no small part to international conferences, sports events and festivals.”

The year was also marked by improvements in the airport itself. “We refurbished the LHV Lounge, and renovated the non-Schengen part of the terminal, both of which are now larger and more comfortable, enhancing passengers’ travel experience,” Pärgmäe said. “We replaced our security screening equipment with newer and more efficient devices as well, and hope the restriction on liquids which was temporarily reintroduced will be lifted before too long. Also making travellers’ lives easier is the fact that those flying with airBaltic, Finnair, Lufthansa, Norwegian, SAS and SWISS can now check their bags in themselves, without having to queue at the check-in counters.”

Two new airlines started flying to the Estonian capital in 2024: Eurowings, which forms part of the Lufthansa group, launched direct flights between Tallinn and Prague; and the French low-cost airline Transavia France, which began flying to Paris Orly.

Five new routes were also launched by airBaltic during the year, conveying passengers to Billund, Burgas, Kittilä, Malta and Palma de Mallorca.

A total of 16 airlines will be operating flights out of Tallinn in 2025: airBaltic, Eurowings, Finnair, LOT, Lufthansa, Norwegian, NyxAir, Pegasus, Ryanair, SAS, SunExpress, SWISS, Transavia, Turkish Airlines and Wizz Air. Of those, two – Eurowings and Transavia France – will be returning to Tallinn in spring, coinciding with the launch of three new destinations by airBaltic: Barcelona, Reykjavik and Tirana.