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In March, for the first time over the past four years, the number of Estonian Air passengers grew faster than the number of passengers served by Tallinn Airport. Last time the growth was driven in Tallinn Airport by Estonian Air in 2008.
The market share of Estonian Air in regular flights increased by 9% in Tallinn Airport, reaching up to 38.3%. In March the average load factor rose by 15.9 percentage points up to 67.4%.
The total number of Estonian Air passengers increased 22.3% y-o-y, while Tallinn Airport passenger number increased by 19.3%. The number of passengers on Estonian Air regular flights increased 30.4%.
The overall number of passengers served by Tallinn Airport in March was 163 732 and by Estonian Air 56 661 respectively.
According to Tero Taskila, the CEO of Estonian Air, the airline must grow in a sustainable and pragmatic manner. "Great contribution to the development of the airline has given by Estonian customers. We have not done big nor expensive campaigns to grow our passenger numbers, however we have increased the flight frequencies, opened new destinations and reviewed our pricing policy,“ said Taskila.
"Estonian Air ticket fares are very competitive which has brought customers back to us. Despite of increased fuel price, we have still managed to offer attractive ticket prices," noted Taskila.
"In order to enable a wide network to Estonian passengers, we are committed to increase the amount of transit passengers and therefore we have opened new destinations mainly to Scandinavian cities," added Taskila.
The core of Estonian Air’s new strategy is to connect Estonia better with the world, and thus improving the country’s global competitiveness. During 2012-2013 Estonian Air will focus on its position at home and nearby markets. That enables the company to enlarge the home market, to achieve sustainable growth and improve its economical results.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
