Tallinn Airport set a new passenger record in August

Tallinn Airport welcomed nearly 390,000 passengers in August, the highest monthly figure in the airport’s history and 16% more than in the same month last year. During the first eight months of the year, the airport served 2.54 million passengers, an increase of 11% compared with the same period last year.

Growth was driven primarily by low-cost airline Wizz Air, which has expanded rapidly in Tallinn over the past year. In August, the airline carried 18% of all passengers at Tallinn Airport and offered connections to nine destinations. airBaltic retained its position as the largest airline, with a market share of 29%. In total, 19 airlines operated scheduled and charter flights from Tallinn to nearly 50 destinations.

“Passenger growth remained strong throughout the summer, and the new record set in August shows that demand for air travel continues to be high. We are pleased to see that passengers have responded well to the additional capacity and new routes introduced by airlines. As usual, the route network will become somewhat smaller during the winter season, which begins at the end of October. Nevertheless, passengers will still be able to fly directly from Tallinn to 39 destinations and travel conveniently onwards via Europe’s major hub airports,” said Eero Pärgmäe, Member of the Management Board of Tallinn Airport.

The vast majority of passengers, 94%, travelled on scheduled flights in August, while charter flights accounted for 6%. Antalya was the most popular charter destination, with passengers also travelling to holiday destinations in Greece, Montenegro and Bulgaria.

Warsaw was the most popular scheduled direct destination in August, followed by Helsinki, Riga, Frankfurt and Stockholm.

The number of flight operations increased by 5% compared with August last year. A total of 4,047 take-offs and landings were recorded, averaging 130 flight operations per day.

During the winter season, which begins at the end of October, passengers will be able to fly directly from Tallinn to 39 destinations. Eurowings will continue operating the Tallinn–Düsseldorf route, launched this summer, throughout the winter season. airBaltic will continue flying to Vienna, another route launched this summer, and will offer connections from Tallinn to a total of 12 destinations during the winter season. Wizz Air will operate seven routes from Tallinn.

Jet2.com will also increase its services during the Christmas tourism season, connecting Tallinn with five UK cities instead of the previous three. Flights will operate from Manchester, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Leeds Bradford and London Gatwick. The airline has nearly twice as many tickets on sale for its Tallinn routes as it did last winter, and its flights are expected to bring approximately 10,000 UK passengers to Estonia.

During the winter season, scheduled flights from Tallinn Airport will be operated by 15 airlines: airBaltic, Eurowings, Finnair, Jet2.com, LOT, Lufthansa, Norwegian, Nyxair, Pegasus Airlines, Ryanair, SAS, SunExpress, SWISS, Turkish Airlines and Wizz Air.

Estonia’s regional airports served a total of 6,787 passengers in August, compared with 8,575 passengers in the same month last year. The decrease was related to reconstruction work at Kuressaare Airport from 10 to 31 August, during which the airport was closed to air traffic for three weeks.
Tartu Airport served 3,998 passengers, Kärdla Airport 1,558 and Kuressaare Airport 1,121. Pärnu Airport served 33 passengers and Ruhnu Airfield 77.