OREANDA-NEWS. May 16, 2012. Estonian Air carried altogether 224 747 passengers during the first four months, out of which 99 027 were transit passengers. The number of transit passengers grew by 75% in the first four months of the year, reported the press-centre of Estonian Air.

In April, after introducing the new hub and spoke strategy, the growth of transit passenger number was 164%. In April 2012, the routes with the highest proportion of transit passengers were Helsinki, Tartu, Riga, St. Petersburg and Vilnius. The most popular routes for transit passengers from Scandinavia were Kiev, Vilnius, Riga, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Tbilisi and Hannover.

“The increased amount of transit passengers allows Estonian Air to open new destinations and offer more frequent flights between Tallinn and European most important cities. That enables the company to improve air connections for Estonians and guests visiting Estonia,“ explained Rauno Parras, the CCO of Estonian Air.

Thanks to introduction the new strategy, the number of passengers was almost doubled in April: Estonian Air carried altogether 85 583 passengers, which is 76.7% increase compared to last year. In April the load factor of Estonian Air flights was 67.2% which is 10.3 percentage points higher than year before.

Estonian Air operated 5241 flights in the first four months, which is 54.5% more flights than last year. In April 2057 flights were operated, which is 135.6% more flights than last year.

AS Estonian Air, Estonia’s national carrier, provides both business travellers and tourists direct air link from Estonia to European cities. Estonian Air is the biggest operator at Tallinn Airport.

Estonian Air focuses on improving the connection between Estonia and the rest of the world with the aim of increasing competitiveness as a network carrier hub. In 2012 Estonian Air increases flight frequencies and open new destinations in European’s most important cities as well as regional centres in Scandinavia.

Estonian Air flies to 24 destinations in CIS, Scandinavia and Europe. The airline has recently announced new destinations for next summer, such as Helsinki, Riga, Jyvaskyla, Hannover, Vienna, Venice, Joensuu, Kajaani and Tbilisi.

The ticket prices start at 39.90 euros, if purchased from www.estonian-air.com, including all fees and taxes, baggage, snacks and soft drinks on longer flights and soft drinks on flights that last less than 1 hour.