In December 2019, a total of 235,000 passengers were served by the airport, 6 percent more than in December 2018, the state-owned airport company announced on Friday.

Tallinn Airport CEO Riivo Tuvike said that increases were observed in tourist and business traveler numbers alike. Factors contributing to crossing the 3,260,000 passenger mark included new routes launched in 2019. The main engine for the growth in passenger numbers, however, was passenger demand resulting in very good load factor indicators on many routes.

Demand remained stably high despite changes in the flight schedules of several airlines. The average load factor of regular flights reached 75 percent in 2019, up from 70 percent in 2018.

All airlines save for Nordica, which changed its business strategy and gave up operating regular flights out of Tallinn, posted increases in passenger numbers in 2019. AirBaltic emerged as the biggest carrier in terms of market share, serving 21 percent of all passengers in 2019, followed by Nordica with 14 and Ryanair with 10 percent of all passengers.

Belarusian carrier Belavia began operating flights to Tallinn in May, bringing the total number of carriers operating regular flights to Tallinn in 2016 to 16. The biggest developmental leap was made by Wizzair, which added departures on the Kyiv route and launched flights to Khuthaisi, Georgia, multiplying its passenger numbers.

A total of 36 regular destinations were served from Tallinn in 2019, 28 of which were year-round destinations. Of charter flights, which were operated to more than 40 destinations from Tallinn, the most popular destinations were Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria during the summer season, and resorts in Egypt and the Canary Islands in winter.

Passenger numbers also increased at all regional airports operated by the state-owned airport company, reaching 67,070 in total.

Tartu Airport passenger numbers increased 8.5 percent on year to 28,322, Kuressaare Airport numbers 6.3 percent to 24,614, Kärdla Airport numbers 17.5 percent to 11,684, and Pärnu Airport numbers 9.7 percent to 1,009.

Ruhnu Airport also served 1,446 and Kihnu Airport 2 passengers in 2019.

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