Estonian Air says goodbye to its last Boeing

The last Boeing 733 that still belongs to the fleet of Estonian national carrier Estonian Air will be returned to the leasing company this week, writes Postimees. The aircraft has been standing idle since last some time as the airline prefers to operate Embraer and Bombardier aircraft.

“Boeing is simply too large. at the present market conditions, the most optimal aircraft for us have between 76 and 88 seats. In addition, the leasing contract of Boeing is about to expire,” said Ilona Eskelinen, head of public relations of Estonian Air. BBN reported in July that Estonian Air has said that its objective is to have only one type of aircraft. According to Palmer, Estonian Air that is operating three Bombardiers and two Embraers needs to focus on one type of aircraft to cut costs.

“The optimum solution is if Estonian Air has five aircraft of similar type,” said Palmer, adding that the first step is to get rid of excess aircraft and then focus on only one type of airplanes. “Europe has very strict requirements for stocks of spare parts, maintenance and pilot training for specific aircraft,” he said, adding that operating one type of aircraft would enable the airline to cut costs.

Estonian Air has already leased one Embraer 170 and crew with pilots out to Lithuanian-owned airline Air Lituanica. “Keeping a modern aircraft on the ground is very expensive so we had to make them to earn money. For the first time in very many years Estonian Air is making a profit which shows that we are using our resources very well,” said Palmer.

Toomas Hõbemägi