Avies loses Saaremaa line to Estonian Air

Sandra Taimre
sandra.taimre @ aripaev.ee

Estonian national carrier Estonian Air will be operating an air route from Tallinn to Kuressaare, capital of Saaremaa, for five years from October.

Eesti Päevaleht writes that the local county government has decided not to extend the five-year contract with the current service provider Avies.

“There were many reasons why we decided to reject the bid made by Avies,” said Mika Männik from the Saare county government. Among others, Avies owes the state EEK 1.4 million in social taxes alone.

A representative of Avies did not deny that the company owes taxes, but said that the whole tender was organized by the local government to ensure that Estonian Air wins it.

“They asked us to operate 11 flights a week, but our current capacity is only eight. Frankly, I doubt whether they will ever operate 11 flights a week since the local government must cover two-thirds of the flight cost,” said a representative of Avies.

Estonian Air has promised to put 33-seat Saab 340 aircraft on the line. Unlike Avies, Estonian Air is also able to offer international travel support through its 13 sales offices across Europe.