Airport, Estonia, Tourism, Transport

Both companies would link the booking system for the Kuressaare route with the global booking system.

Didzis Rudmanis, corporate communications officer at AirBaltic, told the newspaper that they would definitely be interested if a new tender was announced. That is provided that they are able technically to provide the service at that time.

"It means that there is a suitable aircraft to fly, as well as the crew to operate it," Rudmanis said.

When it comes to the global booking system, AirBaltic would have no problem with that, according to the corporate communications officer.

"Tickets to all AirBaltic flights are available via online systems and tickets to all our new destinations have been available via the Amadeus system to date," Rudmanis added.

The Estonian state owned airline Nordic Aviation Group, or Nordica, has also said it will place an offer if conditions are right.

Spokesman Toomas Uibo said that if the terms and conditions of the tender are suitable, Nordica is definitely interested.

"We also have an ideal aircraft for this in our fleet -- the comfortable and quiet turboprop ATR72," he said.

An ATR72 can seat up to 70 passengers.

When asked if Nordica could change departure times from the present to make them more suitable for Saaremaa residents, Uibo said that the terms of the tender have to be published first.

"It's clear that it is in Nordica's interest to integrate this service into our network is such fashion that passengers were able to catch our outbound morning flights from Tallinn with a minimum waste of time," Uibo said.