Tallinn Airport could lose half of its passengers

Toomas Hõbemägi

Executives of Riga Airport say that the number of passengers in Tallinn Airport could fall by half this year.

Janis Balkens, board member of Riga Airport, told B&B that in the first quarter Riga increased its passenger number 8.9 percent thanks to transit travelers. “By the end of this year we expect the number of transit travelers to reach 1 million which is about 25 percent of all passengers. Without transit travelers our results would be similar to Tallinn or Vilnius that could lose up to 50 percent of their passengers by the end of the year,” he said.

Executives of Riga Airport expect the number of passengers in Riga to grow over 10 percent this year.

Riga Airport is already the leading airport in the region with 63 percent of the Baltic air travel market. Up to 20 percent of flights departing Vilnius go to Riga and 11 percent of departures from Tallinn.

The airport expects to serve over 4 million passengers next year.