Compared to a year ago, the number of passengers traveling through Tartu Airport has decreased by 15%, most likely because of the late departures.
While a year ago the news was good and passenger numbers headed towards 3,000 a month, this year’s results don’t look as promising. Just over 2,400 people flew out of Tartu in September, the main reason being the fact that flights are departing later than a year ago.
The number of travelers is mainly kept up by Finnair. The company set its departures from Tartu to a later time of the day, which according to the airport’s operator, Tallinn Airport (AS Tallinna Lennujaam), had negatively affected passenger numbers.
“Finnair moved the departure times of four flights to the evening, and because the flights make it to Helsinki only after 11 p.m., people can’t fly on from there. We already know from surveys that 77% of people want to fly on,” Tallinn Airport’s operational director, Eero Pargmae, said.
The director of Tartu Airport, Argo Annuk, says that they are talking to Finnair, but that there are no changes to be expected at this time: “Feedback has been somewhat sluggish, even though the number of passengers has been at 60% and above,” Annuk said.
Though a 15%-decline is substantial for the small airport, nobody was considering closing it, Pargmae said. (ERR/Business World Magazine)
