"A larger plane is definitely necessary for a county the size of Saaremaa," Ratas told the paper, adding that he supported the idea of Minister of Economic Affairs Kadri Simson (Center) that a procurement tender should be announced already at the end of this year, or the beginning of next year to find a provider for the Tallinn-Kuressaare route.

Though he said that dealing with the issue at the end of 2018 would be too late, enough time needed to be given to finding a provider for the route.

The contract of the current carrier, Transaviabaltika, is valid until May 31, 2019. The airline operates a small Jetstream aircraft on the route.

The prime minister also emphasized the importance of improving quality. If a resident of the island wanted to travel to Tallinn for work, and the first plane of the day departed at 9:30 a.m., they had already lost three hours of the day. "I don’t think that’s reasonable," Ratas said.