newstodate.aero
Nov 21, 2012 (newstodate): The future shape of Estonian Air is now emerging in the form of a company with less staff, fewer aircraft and a reduced network of destinations.
On the payroll at Estonian Air are now 318 staff that will be reduced by 146, or roughly half, with layoffs of administrative personnel to start as from now and of cabin and cockpit crews as decisions on the future aircraft fleet are finalized.
Today's fleet of 11 aircraft, including the three Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft already put up for sale, will be cut to five Embraer aircraft.
In the fleet now are four Embraer 170 aircraft leased from Finnair, as well as three SAAB 340 leased from Golden Air. All of these will be handed back to the owner as lease terms expire.
On order now are three Embraer 175 and five Embraer 190, and a decision is due within a few weeks on which aircraft orders will be sustained.
Flights from Tallinn to four destinations in Finland, including Helsinki, will stop from December 2012/January 2013, flights to Paris will be reduced, flights to Vienna will stop from March 23, 2013, and the route to Vilnius was scrapped already from September 18, 2012.
At the same time plans for resumption or opening of flights to Hanover, Gothenburg, London City, and Tbilisi are also taken off the monitor.
In the future, the reduced flight program will focus only on ten destinations: Stockholm, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Brussels, Oslo, Moscow, St Petersburg, Kiev, Vilnius and Trondheim.
According to the earlier strategy, Finland was considered a major part of the airline's home market, adding to the carrier's critical mass to sustain plans for turning Tallinn into a hub served by Estonian Air.
In the future, Estonian Air will be tailored to serving the Estonian market for air travel and cut in size to match its small national market.
On the payroll at Estonian Air are now 318 staff that will be reduced by 146, or roughly half, with layoffs of administrative personnel to start as from now and of cabin and cockpit crews as decisions on the future aircraft fleet are finalized.
Today's fleet of 11 aircraft, including the three Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft already put up for sale, will be cut to five Embraer aircraft.
In the fleet now are four Embraer 170 aircraft leased from Finnair, as well as three SAAB 340 leased from Golden Air. All of these will be handed back to the owner as lease terms expire.
On order now are three Embraer 175 and five Embraer 190, and a decision is due within a few weeks on which aircraft orders will be sustained.
Flights from Tallinn to four destinations in Finland, including Helsinki, will stop from December 2012/January 2013, flights to Paris will be reduced, flights to Vienna will stop from March 23, 2013, and the route to Vilnius was scrapped already from September 18, 2012.
At the same time plans for resumption or opening of flights to Hanover, Gothenburg, London City, and Tbilisi are also taken off the monitor.
In the future, the reduced flight program will focus only on ten destinations: Stockholm, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Brussels, Oslo, Moscow, St Petersburg, Kiev, Vilnius and Trondheim.
According to the earlier strategy, Finland was considered a major part of the airline's home market, adding to the carrier's critical mass to sustain plans for turning Tallinn into a hub served by Estonian Air.
In the future, Estonian Air will be tailored to serving the Estonian market for air travel and cut in size to match its small national market.