Estonian Air

airBaltic and Estonian Air continue to counter LCC growth threat from Ryanair and others

The Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are seeing rapid low-cost carrier growth, especially in their key market of Scandinavia. The very small or non-existent domestic markets in the Baltic nations means the local carriers are reliant almost entirely on international operations, where they must compete against foreign carriers. Like the rest of Europe, the most pronounced competition comes from LCCs.

Estonian Air and airBaltic are the key carriers of the region but foreign budget carriers such as Ryanair, Wizz Jet and Flybe are increasing their presence in the Baltic market in order to tap into the burgeoning traffic volumes.

Wizz Air and Ryanair intensify competition in Lithuanian market

Wizz Air opened its 14th base in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 16-Apr-2011. Wizz Air’s expansion comes as Ryanair also expands in the Lithuanian market, with six new routes to be launched to/from Vilnius in May-2011. The entry of two of Europe’s largest LCCs has resulted in airBaltic downsizing its presence at Vilnius “due to crowding” in the market. Vilnius remains the second-busiest airport in the Baltic region, behind Riga International Airport.

The return of the European fifth freedom route

Estonian Air’s Chairman, Joakim Helenius, has indicated the carrier plans to develop a new route plan using Vilnius (Lithuania) and airports in Poland as layover points for services into western Europe. The carrier has already trialled Tallinn-Vilnius-Amsterdam services, achieving average load factors of 83%, including a record 90% average in Jul-2010. Using the scheme will allow the carrier to operate daily services to Paris, London, Milan, Rome and other western European routes. Some profitable direct services, such as Moscow, Brussels and Copenhagen will be retained. Estonian Air hopes to announce further details of the strategy in early Feb-2011.

Estonian airline prepares to meet the challenge of Ryanair

Ryanair announced the commencement of its first Estonian services in Dec-2010 as its drive north-eastwards continues.

Finnair-Flybe pact: A sign of regional airline deals to come?

Finnair has confirmed plans to increase its domestic and international feeder traffic network in cooperation with the UK’s LCC-cum-regional airline Flybe. Cooperation will be on various Finnish domestic routes including those to Tampere and Turku; also to Tallinn in Estonia. The cooperation will commence on 31-Oct-2010 using three “propeller-driven” aircraft (presumably Dash 8 Q400s) based at Helsinki Airport.