The state-owned airline Nordica has said it does not want to resume direct flights to Stockholm at present. The government has permitted the reopening of direct flights to Sweden after the country’s coronavirus rate fell, but Nordica is waiting for state support.
Nordica spokesman Toomas Uibo said the route had been allowed to reopened so recently by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications that the company was looking at how the market would react to the news.
Taavi Audo, spokesperson for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, said it was hoped state aid for Nordica would be on the agenda at the September 10 regular government meeting, but exactly when the company could expect to receive the funds was not yet known.
According to Tallinn Airport communications manager Jane Kallaste, Latvian carrier airBaltic is the only airline flying between Tallinn and Stockholm at the moment, though Scandinavian airline SAS will join it at the end of the month.
The coronavirus infection rate limit set by the ministry beyond which direct flights are barred is 25 per 100,000 inhabitants in the preceding 14 days. Sweden’s rate as of September 7 stood at 21.6 per 100,000.
State aid for Nordica totaling EUR 30 million was green-lighted by the European Commission last month. (ERR/Business World Magazine)