Estonia's position is that small airports in the country cannot independently cover their costs.

The European Union operates as a single market, meaning that uniform rules must apply to European businesses to ensure fair competition. As a result, regulations on how much governments can support their airports or aviation companies have been strict until now.

The EU is currently gathering feedback from member states and stakeholders on how to review existing state aid rules.

Last week, the Estonian government approved its position on how these rules should be eased for Estonian airports and airlines.

Estonia argues that the current regulations were developed before recent crises and do not take into account the modern geopolitical situation in Eastern Europe.

Minister of Infrastructure Vladimir Svet (SDE) explained that attracting new airlines to operate flights to Estonia is challenging.

"In this situation, it is logical that our airport, which has to compete with large airports across Europe, is in a difficult position," Svet said.

Under EU competition rules, Malta and Cyprus are currently classified as peripheral regions of Europe.

Svet stated that Estonia's goal is to be clearly defined as a peripheral region as well.

"The issue is that Malta and Cyprus have no land connection to Europe. For them, maintaining air routes is a vital necessity and financially costly for one reason. For us, it is essential and expensive for another reason — not necessarily the same as Malta and Cyprus — but it still creates certain risks and limitations for airlines operating here. The market is small on one hand, and on the other, flights cannot operate eastward from here, which further restricts the business opportunities these airlines would have if they were operating in other parts of Europe," Svet explained.

Beyond Tallinn Airport, the future of Estonia's smaller airports — such as those in Tartu, Pärnu, Kärdla and Kuressaare — also remains uncertain if Estonia is no longer allowed to support them financially at the current level.

At present, operating subsidies for small airports are also only a temporary measure, and in two years, the European Commission expects these airports to sustain themselves under market conditions.

"The question is whether we will be allowed to continue subsidizing them. Secondly, it is unrealistic to expect that airports, especially those located on islands, should break even or turn a profit. For us, air connectivity to the islands is not up for debate — it must be maintained. Therefore, we are now focused on negotiations with colleagues at the EU level," Svet said.

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