Tallinn Airport has been inaccessible by tram since the summer of 2023, when the city's tram service was interrupted by roadwork and the construction of the Old Harbor tramline. While trams resumed operation that fall, it was revealed that the airport would nonetheless be inaccessible by tram through the end of 2025 due to the construction of the new Rail Baltica terminal nearby.

As things currently stand, construction of the Ülemiste Terminal won't reach a stage allowing trams to resume service to the airport until the first half of next year.

Last Thursday, a meeting was held between representatives of both Rail Baltic Estonia and Tallinn municipal authorities, where it was determined that tram service to the airport cannot be reopened before next summer.

"We had to acknowledge at the meeting that, as things stand, opening tram service to the airport is likely to happen in June 2026," Rail Baltic Estonia spokesperson Silvia Pärmann told ERR.

According to Pärmann, it cannot be ruled out that if the work is completed more quickly, tram service to the airport could be restored sooner.

"However, this is a complex and large-scale infrastructure project, where compromises cannot be made on safety and quality," she noted.

Despite the delay, the City of Tallinn-owned transport company AS Tallinna Linnatransport (TLT) has commissioned the construction of a new tramline branch leading to the airport, and the corresponding contract has already been signed.

The planned new branch will allow for the possibility that, in the future, another tram besides the number 2 will also serve the airport. Before the Old Harbor line was opened, the airport was served by the number 4 tram, whose other terminal stop was located in Tondi.

The new branch is expected to be completed by the end of the year, the city government told ERR, adding that initially, only the number 2 tram will travel to the airport. Whether another line may also begin serving the airport in the future will be determined through modeling and, initially, the monitoring of passenger numbers traveling to the airport.

The fact that the Old Harbor tram cannot yet reach the airport is in itself noteworthy, as the tramline was specifically built to connect the harbor and airport, thus also receiving tens of millions of euros in funding from the EU. Out of the €55 million spent on the construction of the newest tramline, €36.5 million came from EU recovery funds.

The number 2 Old Harbor tramline entered passenger service last December.

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