April saw a seven-month high in passenger through-flow at Tallinn Airport, with a significant proportion of flights being chartered planes. The development suggests public belief that the cross-border travel situation is improving, as well as a growing desire to travel again, the airport says.
While the school spring break was not accompanied by a significant growth in passenger numbers, Tallinn Airport said, a third of flights were charters.
Airport commercial director Eero Pargmae said: “Regardless of some growth in passenger numbers, we can see that people remain rather cautious when it comes to traveling. Passenger behavior has also changed as a result of the virus crisis – the period of planning and purchasing tickets has at times shortened to just a few weeks, and awareness of the documents and proof needed for traveling has grown.”
44,607 passengers passed through Tallinn Airport in April, across 1,636 flights, and the average passenger load factor was 43%.
German airline Lufthansa, Latvia’s state owned carrier airBaltic, along with Finnair, were the most heavily-used flight companies, carrying around 18% of passengers between them, while the fullest planes were operated by Smartlynx, which operated charter flights to Egypt, the Canary Islands and Turkey.
January-April saw 130,649 passengers pass through Tallinn Airport, down by 85% compared with 2019, the last year where the four months all had normal volumes.
5,420 flights took place over the same time-frame, an average of 45 per day, and a 63% drop on two years earlier.
The busiest routes were between Tallinn and Frankfurt, Helsinki and Stockholm, which were 50% full, and routes to Istanbul and Malaga were opened, connecting to a total of 18 destinations. (ERR/Business World Magazine)