The autumn air season is not starting with the best news: the transport of liquids at Tallinn Airport is again limited to 100 ml, and direct flights to Dubai have been cancelled. What is the reason?
- Lessons learned from scandalously slow inspections
- Direct flights to Paris and Prague – a successful project
- Ticket prices have stabilized, fees will increase
The autumn air season is not starting with the best news: the transport of liquids at Tallinn Airport is again limited to 100 ml, and direct flights to Dubai have been cancelled. What is the reason?
Tallinn Airport Commercial Director Eero Pärgmäe answered questions from rus.Postimees live on air.
Excerpts from the conversation :
– What is the reason for the new restrictions on carrying liquids in hand luggage? Passengers have barely had time to get used to the good, and now there is another step back?
– It’s a pity that it happened this way. In a sense, it’s a step backwards. However, ensuring safety in aviation is always a priority. The European Commission has concluded that the current regulations do not meet safety standards, so from September 1, it is again forbidden to carry liquids in volumes greater than 100 ml in hand luggage.
– It was reported that liquids of less than 100 ml will still be allowed to remain in bags during inspection at Tallinn Airport. Is this true?
– Experts are still working on this issue. The problem is that inspectors will need to make sure that the volume of liquid does not exceed 100 ml. Whether this can be done without removing the liquid from hand luggage will become clear a little later. In general, we are not happy about the emergence of such regulation, but nothing can be done.
– How long will the ban on carrying liquids larger than 100 ml last? For example, bottled water? Is it realistic to quickly sign a single international agreement to lift the restrictions?
– It is difficult to predict. New regulations are being developed in cooperation between the EU and the US. I think that the manufacturers of the latest technology for screening passengers' hand luggage want to convince the world of the effectiveness of their products and promote sales. I believe that the situation with the transportation of liquids will be regulated within a year. There is a strong lobby on their part.
– Since the rules for carrying liquids in hand luggage are changing from September 1, will the lines at security increase again?
– I hope that the queues will not increase. At the moment, one way or another, 20% of hand luggage was sent for additional control. And if we managed to cope with queues in the record month for passenger traffic – in July – then we will be able to avoid them in September.
– Is it possible that the situation will repeat itself, when due to the slowness of officials at passport control, 60 passengers flying to Paphos at the end of May were late for their flight? That’s a third of the plane…
– It is impossible to 100% rule out the recurrence of such situations in the future. That time, the problems began already during the registration of passengers, then continued at the border point, and in addition, the captain of the ship made a bad decision. Everything went wrong from the start.
This is an unfortunate incident. We are very sorry to all passengers who found themselves in an unpleasant situation. Of course, we have learned our lessons from this and will try to avoid such incidents from happening again.
Now more border guards are involved in checks, their shifts are arranged depending on the flight schedule, etc.
– Why did Flydubai cancel direct flights to Dubai announced in the fall?
– Again, it is a pity that it happened this way. We have been working with Dubai on opening this route for 10 years. But, alas, a week ago the airline announced the cancellation of flights from Tallinn. The reason is obvious – the manufacturer Boeing was unable to provide the required number of aircraft for flights from the UAE to Estonia by the deadline. There are simply no aircraft!
– But why is it Estonia that has been given the cross?
– The route from Dubai to Tallinn is quite long, the flight lasts 7 hours. Only Boeing MAX ( new generation of medium-range passenger aircraft – editor’s note ) can fly to Estonia. Old Boeings are simply not designed for such distances.
The flight schedule had to be seriously redrawn. As a result, Flydubai will not fly to Latvia or Lithuania.
– Could the lack of aircraft be a pretext for cancelling flights? Perhaps the population’s declining purchasing power, weak sales, and small market potential played a role?
– Sales were going well, travel agencies had entire blocks of seats booked on these planes. There were no problems with that. The reason was the lack of planes.
We will meet again with Flydubai in October and start discussing direct flights as early as 2025. We hope that the route will open next year.
– What are the results of the spring-summer period at Tallinn Airport? Are there any records?
– As you know, the country's economy has been falling for two years. However, people are flying more and more. Last summer was a record for passenger traffic. The entire year will be a record as well.
July turned out to be the busiest month in the airport's history: 343,000 passengers per month, or 11,000 passengers per day. All passengers were served on time, and there were no major traffic jams.
Passenger traffic is expected to reach 3.45 million by the end of the year, about 200,000 more than the previous record set in 2019.
– The state budget will be cut. Will Tallinn Airport have to economize on anything?
– This worries us, because the state supports the work of regional airports and checkpoints, and also ensures the presence of rescuers at the airport. If funding is cut, we will have to make appropriate decisions. We hope that there will be no major problems.
– How will airfare prices change?
– This year, competition between air carriers has become more intense. There are 16 airlines operating at Tallinn Airport. More tickets have gone on sale. There are also more passengers.
Ticket prices have stabilized. Ticket prices have definitely not increased. Airlines note that last year was more successful for them. This means that they had to lower their forecasts and prices this year.
– When will the increase in airport fees be on the agenda?
– Consultations on increasing fees will begin in the fall. Calculations have been made. Last year we did not increase tariffs, although inflation in Estonia exceeded 9%. I think that next year the fee will have to be increased. I will not name the figures yet.
The expansion of Tallinn Airport will also be on the agenda. The terminal, designed for 2.6 million passengers, has become cramped, and passenger traffic has approached 3.5 million people. Investments and additional money are needed.
– At whose expense will you expand?
– If passengers want to continue flying, they need the terminal themselves. The answer is obvious. Construction could begin as early as the second half of next year.
– What are the plans of low-cost airlines? How many routes will close? Which of the new routes have paid for themselves?
– This year, two new low-cost airlines arrived in Tallinn: Transavia (direct flights to Paris) and Eurowings (direct flights to Prague). Both lines can be called successful. They will close for the winter. I think that next summer these carriers will return to Tallinn.
Ryanair will continue to offer 11 destinations, Norwegian flies only to Oslo and is considering what to do next, Wizzair will continue to remain in Estonia.
– Only Wizzair cancelled flights to Kutaisi…
– They stopped flying to Kutaisi for the same reason as Flydubai: there are not enough planes designed for a sufficiently long distance. They had to economize. Long routes are closed more often than short ones, since planes are busy on such segments almost the entire day.
AirBaltic is the most frequent guest at Tallinn Airport. They have the most flights. In the summer they offered 25 destinations, in the winter – 17.
The winter season at Tallinn Airport will be more modest in terms of flight geography than the summer season.
– What direct routes are being developed for the future? You have already noted that you will continue negotiations with Flydubai. Is there anything else in mind?
– We see that our market lacks Spanish routes. Currently, flights are offered only to Barcelona and Malaga. However, there is demand for Madrid and Alicante. So we are working in this direction.
The geography of flights from Germany could be wider. For example, Hamburg, Nuremberg or Dusseldorf.
The Balkan countries are also of interest. For example, Montenegro. In addition, one could pay attention to Moldova, Bulgaria, Romania and Albania. The market there is growing very quickly, and the question of opening regular lines in the next two or three years is quite appropriate.
More details in the replay!
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Postimees Studio: Where won't planes fly? How long will liquids be restricted? Photo: Oliver Kaur
- What is the reason for the restrictions on carrying liquids in hand luggage? How long will the temporary ban last?
- Will the lines at security checks get much longer from September 1?
- What other changes await air passengers?
- Are the summer records big? What goals have not been achieved?
- Why is Flydubai cancelling direct flights to Dubai?
- Isn't the lack of aircraft the only reason?
- Will prices for flights to and via Dubai rise sharply?
- Will air tickets in general continue to become more expensive?
- What are the plans of low-cost airlines for Tallinn?
- Which routes are closed? Will new ones open?
