Airport, Estonia, Transport

Estonian Air's Communications Manager Ilona Eskelinen told ERR news portal that temporary rental of additional aircraft from other airlines is the usual practice in aviation. Eskelinen noted that Estonian Air has previously used, and also uses now propeller planes rented from other airlines to serve the periodically increased flight frequencies. "Similarly, we also have rented our aircraft with crews to other airlines."

The company is also preparing for the return of the Embraer planes to the leasing provider, which has also led to a temporary need for extra planes.

"When the aircraft type is temporarily changed on some route, we consider the need of people to reach connecting flights. If necessary, we have also offered alternate flights. Also, we apologise to our customers, if temporary replacement of aircraft types has caused confusion or inconvenience," said Eskelinen.

Some Estonian Air passengers recently expressed criticism in the press that as Estonian Air uses different, slower planes that reach some destinations later than initially planned, people are worried about catching their connecting flights.