A total of 275,952 passengers passed through Tallinn Airport in September, 67% more than in the same period in 2021. For the fourth month in a row, passenger numbers reached 89% of their pre-pandemic levels. In the first nine months of the year the airport served a total of 2.07 million passengers.
Eero Pärgmäe, a member of the management board of Tallinn Airport, says the September figures reflect the fact that Estonians are avid travellers. “People in the country have started flying again, and that makes us optimistic,” he said. “We hope to have served 2.7 million passengers altogether by the end of year. We’re still doing everything we can to improve the services offered at the airport so that passengers enjoy waiting for their flights and really do feel like they’re in the world’s cosiest airport. We opened a new gate area on the basement level in September which will serve up to 400 passengers. We have another extension planned for next year, too – this one to improve our servicing of non-Schengen flights.”
September saw direct flights operating on 35 routes, the majority to the nearby hubs of Helsinki, Riga and Stockholm. The average capacity for scheduled flights during the month was 74%. Charter flights were used by 16% of passengers, primarily to the Turkish resort of Antalya, but also to the Greek islands and the Adriatic coast of Montenegro. The most popular destinations by country were Turkey, Germany and Italy.
The airline with the biggest market share in September was airBaltic, which transported 22% of all passengers. Ryanair had a 20% share, followed by Finnair with 9% and Lufthansa 8%.
The autumn school holidays are in the final week of October, when the airport is likely to serve more passengers than normal. “I’d like to remind everyone that at peak times, especially during the school holidays, you may have to queue for longer to get through security and passport control, so we advise all passengers to arrive at the airport two hours ahead of departure,” Pärgmäe said. “If everyone packs their hand luggage according to the regulations, the queues and waiting times will be shorter. The rules on packing liquids and when to take out electronics are on the airport’s website and I encourage passengers to review them. That way everyone will be contributing to speeding things up at security.”
A total of 6060 travellers passed through regional airports in September. Kuressaare Airport was the busiest in this regard, serving 3537 passengers, followed by Tartu (1393), Kärdla (1077), Pärnu (31) and Ruhnu (22).
