Tallinn Airport serving fewer school break flights this week than last year
As schools in Estonia are on fall break, a total of 66,000 people are traveling via Tallinn Airport this week. Overall fall break vacation travel is down, however, as people are still feeling the effects of the economic recession, Tallinn Airport CCO Eero Pärgmäe said Friday.
"Fall break is peak vacation travel time at Tallinn Airport – spring break is more peaceful – but it doesn't affect overall passenger numbers, as there are fewer business travelers, but more vacation travelers," Pärgmäe explained.
A total of 66,000 travelers have been served by Estonia's main airport this week.
"School break isn't a one-week project," the CCO continued. "We see a surge of activity a week or even two weeks in advance already if they're traveling further." Some people are only just leaving for a getaway on Friday as well, he added.
The parking garage at Tallinn Airport has 1,200 spots, and is currently at 95 percent capacity.
"Before school break we renovated yet another parking lot with 400 spots, and it's at 80 percent capacity," he noted.
"The [passenger] terminal at Tallinn Airport is built to serve 2.6 million passengers a year, but this year we've already served 2.9 million passengers to date," Pärgmäe highlighted. "The building is getting cramped."
During school break, however, flights end up following a distinct pattern. "Early Saturday morning, four planes depart for Antalya essentially at once," he noted, referring to the Turkish coastal resort city.
"Aviation reacts sharply to the economic recession; the number of air passengers drops off at twice the rate the economy declines," the airport CCO acknowledged. "Our air passenger numbers haven't decreased that much – broadly speaking to last year's levels. Last year we felt the impact of pension funds being released."
The airport also served significantly more charter passengers last year, he added.
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Editor: Aili Vahtla