Passenger numbers hit seventh-month high at Tallinn Airport in July I Record number of passengers at Kärdla Airport

A total of 276,979 passengers passed through Tallinn Airport in July – 2.4% fewer than in the same period last year. Kärdla Airport set a new passenger record in July, serving 2406 travellers – a rise of as much as 66% year on year.

Direct flights from Tallinn operated on 32 regular routes in July, and there were also charter flights to popular holiday destinations in Türkiye, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Tunisia. The airlines which have added most flights to their schedules since the same period last year are airBaltic, Finnair and SAS. The biggest airline operating out of Tallinn remains airBaltic, which flies to 16 destinations and served 30% of the airport’s passengers in July. The next biggest airlines are Ryanair, Lufthansa and Finnair, with 14%, 10% and 8% of market share, respectively. In July, 3468 flights were operated at the airport – an average of 112 take-offs and landings per day.

Tallinn Airport served a total of 1,672,682 passengers in the first seven months of the year – 13% more than in the same period last year. The rapid growth in passenger numbers in the wake of the pandemic has now stabilised. Eero Pärgmäe, a member of the management board of AS Tallinna Lennujaam, says the extreme heat that struck Southern Europe in July led to some last-minute changes of plans for those intending to fly to the region. “But the late-summer, early-autumn climate in the Mediterranean and Western Europe is wonderful, so after a rather wet July here in Estonia we can only hope that locals are opting to extend their summer by flying direct to one of those destinations in the next couple of months,” he said. “There are 32 regular and a range of charter destinations to choose from, with something for everyone, whether it’s an escape to nature, a city break or a beach holiday they’re after.”

Pärgmäe says the coming months will also see additions to the flight schedule. “From 17 August SAS will be flying from Tallinn to Oslo twice a week, making it the third airline to serve the Norwegian capital and giving passengers a choice of nine flights spread over all seven days of the week,” he explained. “This also means that as of autumn, SAS will connect Tallinn to three Scandinavian destinations – Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen. Plus the Turkish low-cost carrier Pegasus Airlines will be adding twice-weekly direct flights to Antalya to its schedule for the period from 23 September-28 October.”

A total of 7202 passengers passed through regional airports in Estonia in July: 4200 in Kuressaare, 2406 in Kärdla, 405 in Pärnu and 191 in Tartu. The rise in passenger numbers at Kärdla Airport is due to the larger aircraft that has been operating on the route since the end of January: Diamond Sky’s 33-seat SAAB 340. The extra flights added in summer during major events on the island (Hiiu Folk and the Hiiumaa Home Café Days) proved very popular.