EUR 18.5 million is being invested into Parnu Airport, though with no promise of recouping those funds. The airport will remain under the control of its parent company, Tallinn Airport, while one of the first major tasks is to attract flight companies.
Phase one of Parnu Airport’s redevelopment has been completed, which includes a new runway and comes to EUR 13.9 million, i.e. most of the overall total.
The arrival of the coronavirus pandemic and the falling away of tourism – Parnu being Estonia’s summer capital – has also complicated things, though Tallin Airport board member Einar Bambus said that regular flights might be resumed at some point in the future.
He said: “We have previously cooperated with both the local government and the Parnu Foundation. These are joint efforts, to enable us to stimulate air traffic here and revitalize the entire business environment.”
“The work of Tallinn Airport does not end here, and we will definitely continue to be a part of Tallinn Airport,” he went on, adding that both the company and the city of Parnu would put in EUR 400,000 per year to the facility – this figure would simply cover the budget deficit.
The airport has seen businesses from all areas pitch in and not just from the aviation sector; Oliver Paasik, manager of the Parnu Rannahotell said that his company, along with other entrepreneurs, would be helping.
The newly-built runway has already seen use, with the first plane, operated by Flygi.
Flygi founder Karl-Tonis Lepp was full of praise for the new facility: “The Precision approach path indicator (PAPI) lights were very bright and highly visible, while the texture of the runway was so outstanding that it was visible north of Parnu-Jaagupi.”
The airport is located just west of Parnu city.
The TREV-2 Group constructed the new runway. (ERR/Business World Magazine)