newstodate.aero
May 22, 2013 (newstodate): Estonia's capital Tallinn Airport is quite satisfied with performance in 2013 - and even upbeat about prospects for next year.
-Despite the shortfall of transfer passengers after the change of strategy by Estonian Air, we are doing pretty well in 2013 and even ahead of expectations, says Erik Sakkov, Tallinn Airport board member and responsible for marketing.
-We now expect to land around 1.9 mio passengers in 2013 which is much better than earlier predicted. And thanks to a growing economy with little external debts, the consumption power in the Estonian market is growing as well, creating a rise in demand for air transportation.
-Actually, the scarcity of seats available in 2013 has led to a rise in yields by the airlines operating here, so that should also make Estonia a tempting market for new entrants.
-Unfortunately, our airport managing director was misquoted when asked about new airlines to call at Tallinn Airport in 2013. The reality is that no, we have no news to announce as we are obliged not to comment on ongoing negotiations with airlines. But yes, we are indeed negotiating with several new carriers that find our market and our airport attractive. So we might indeed see some news in the time ahead.
-And given the positive development in the market we are now quite optimistic about prospect for further growth in 2014, says Mr Sakkov.
During this summer, Turkish Airlines will start operations on the new route to Istanbul from June 11, and Ryanair is operating seven new routes from Tallinn Airport.
From May 2013, Estonian Air is operating flights to Nice and, from June 6, to Paris.
On existing routes, Lufthansa is doubling the frequency of flights to Frankfurt Main, to 14 rotations a week, and airBaltic will fly to Riga 35 times a week, up from 28 in the winter schedule.
Also growing volume at Tallinn Airport is the cruise carrier Pullmantur that will turn around some 16,000 passengers at Tallinn Harbour and Tallinn Airport on its Baltic cruise schedule.
-Despite the shortfall of transfer passengers after the change of strategy by Estonian Air, we are doing pretty well in 2013 and even ahead of expectations, says Erik Sakkov, Tallinn Airport board member and responsible for marketing.
-We now expect to land around 1.9 mio passengers in 2013 which is much better than earlier predicted. And thanks to a growing economy with little external debts, the consumption power in the Estonian market is growing as well, creating a rise in demand for air transportation.
-Actually, the scarcity of seats available in 2013 has led to a rise in yields by the airlines operating here, so that should also make Estonia a tempting market for new entrants.
-Unfortunately, our airport managing director was misquoted when asked about new airlines to call at Tallinn Airport in 2013. The reality is that no, we have no news to announce as we are obliged not to comment on ongoing negotiations with airlines. But yes, we are indeed negotiating with several new carriers that find our market and our airport attractive. So we might indeed see some news in the time ahead.
-And given the positive development in the market we are now quite optimistic about prospect for further growth in 2014, says Mr Sakkov.
During this summer, Turkish Airlines will start operations on the new route to Istanbul from June 11, and Ryanair is operating seven new routes from Tallinn Airport.
From May 2013, Estonian Air is operating flights to Nice and, from June 6, to Paris.
On existing routes, Lufthansa is doubling the frequency of flights to Frankfurt Main, to 14 rotations a week, and airBaltic will fly to Riga 35 times a week, up from 28 in the winter schedule.
Also growing volume at Tallinn Airport is the cruise carrier Pullmantur that will turn around some 16,000 passengers at Tallinn Harbour and Tallinn Airport on its Baltic cruise schedule.