Airport, Analytics, Estonia, Tourism, Transport

At the same time, the airport company plans to move forward with its enlargement project to be able to serve over 5 mln passengers a year in the future.

In 2018, passenger numbers at Tallinn Airport grew by 14% to an all-time high of 3 mln, with the three mlnth passenger registered on the last day of the year. The number of seats is set to grow despite Nordica narrowing its route network, and the airport is working with new route openings primarily in the direction of Europe and the Middle East in mind.

The CEO, Piret Murk-Dubout, said that at present the small size of the passenger terminal, which is meant to serve up to 2.8 mln passengers annually, is preventing further growth in passenger numbers. The airport plans to start the designing process of an extension of the passenger terminal this year with a view to being able to serve from five to six mln passengers a year in the future.

"Now that Nordica has narrowed up its connections, the role of specifically the airport in connecting Estonia with Europe, Asia and the whole world has grown significantly. What we have achieved already is that the number of air connections is not declining but is rather increasing. We are also working towards the introduction of new holiday and business destinations primarily in the direction of Germany, Middle East and Asia. We wish to establish a connection with Dubai and Doha by 2020," the airport company's chief commercial officer (CCO) Eero Pargmae said.

The number of destinations operated from Tallinn rose to a record 41 in the summer of 2018 as several new exciting summer destinations were introduced alongside charter destinations, which made it possible for Estonian residents to fly to Constanta and Ohrid, for instance. Year-round flights are available to Malta, Cyprus and Edinburgh. Year-round destinations now number 27 in total. 

The number of airlines operating flights to and from Tallinn is 16, the newest of them being the operator Wizzair that offers flights to Kiev and London since last year. Where in 2018 the number one airline in Tallinn was Nordica with Latvian carrier airBaltic in second place, the two companies are likely to switch places this year as a result of the contraction of the route network of Nordica, which likely will halve the company's market share from 22.7% last year.

In two years, the number of passengers passing through Tallinn Airport has increased by 30%. The three mln passengers served during 2018 means that the airport served on the average 8,200 passengers and 60 flights a day. 

According to unaudited figures, the revenue of the airport company in 2018 grew approximately 7% to 53.6 mln euros. The year-on-year increase in revenue was smaller than the increase in passenger numbers because attracting new services to Tallinn has required discount offers from the airport.