Tallinn Airport fee rises to affect domestic travel
Domestic flights to Estonia's islands will likely be affected by Tallinn Airport's decision to raise fees next year. Little is expected to change for international flights.
Tallinn Airport, which manages airports across Estonia, will introduce a €2.87 security fee and the fee for passengers with special needs will rise to almost 50 cents.
The changes will come into effect at Pärnu, Kuressaare and Kärdla airports in January and at Tallinn and Tartu airports in April.
Tallinn Airport CEO Riivo Tuvike said security costs have increased by almost 30 percent over the last year.
He said the fee in Latvia and Finland is approximately €6.
"€3 is not that much. The reasons are understood, but I cannot say for sure that everyone likes it. /.../ But what we do know today is that Air Baltic, for example, will open five new routes next year," Tuvike said.
The company also raised its fees last year and Ryanair was not happy. It is not known what the airline will do this time.
"I cannot say, time will tell. But, as I said, this kind of adjustment of the route network will always happen, regardless of whether charges go up or even down," Tuvike told "Aktuaalne kaamera"
Aviation expert Sven Kukemelk said introducing the fee in April is a smart move as the routes become busier from then onwards.
"At the moment, even from the media's point of view, they do not have any reason to cancel anything before April 1. /.../ If Ryanair now wants to cancel something for the summer, the airlines still make money in the summer. So the question is, why suffer through the whole winter and then not take a profit here in the summer," he commented.
However, the fee is likely to raise the prices of flights to Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, Kukemelk said.
Tallinn Airport said it is not sure if the additional cost will be borne by the passenger or the state.
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Editor: Merili Nael, Helen Wright
Source: Aktuaalne kaamera