Passenger numbers at Tallinn Airport have recovered to pre-corona levels

This February, Tallinn Airport served 190,236 passengers, which is 49% more than in last February. Despite the difficult economic situation, demand has remained strong, with passenger numbers reaching 97% of the numbers of the same period in 2019. The school holidays in February also had a positive impact on passenger numbers.

There were regular flights to 32 destinations from Tallinn in February and the average capacity of the flights was 70%. The biggest share of passengers, ca 50%, flew to the larger hubs of Helsinki, Riga, Frankfurt, Stockholm and Warsaw. They were followed by London, Milan and Istanbul.

According to Anneli Turkin, member of the management board of Tallinn Airport, the passenger numbers in February were encouraging. “Against a backdrop of high inflation and high heating costs, we’re pleased to see that people still find opportunities for travelling. The air traffic at Tallinn Airport has recovered to virtually pre-corona levels in a situation where we’re still don’t have flights to Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, which previously accounted for nearly 10% of our passenger numbers.”

The February school holidays brought more traffic than usual to the airport. Flights were used for holidays in the sun and skiing holidays as well as for city breaks. “We were prepared for the school holidays and planned more staff in the different units,” said Turkin. “It may have taken a little longer for passengers arriving at the airport by car to find a free parking space, as the car parks were quite full and the normal rhythm has now resumed.”

The number of passengers at regional airports in February was 4,148. Most of them, i.e. 2,926 passengers, used Kuressaare Airport and the number of passengers increased by 49% compared to last year. Diamond Sky, a new carrier that uses a larger, 33-seater aircraft, started operating between Kärdla and Tallinn in late January. Kärdla Airport served 824 (+48%), Ruhnu 231, Pärnu 150 and Tartu 17 passengers. There was no air traffic at Kihnu airfield in February.