Joakim Helenius, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Estonian Air, introduced the cornerstones of the new strategy of Estonian Air at the International Tourism Conference today. Estonian Air is planning to expand its network and increase the number of destinations.

Estonian Air is aiming to develop from a regional carrier to a hub-and-spoke network airline. “The network model enables to widen travelling opportunities for Estonian people and improve Estonia’s attractiveness by promoting incoming tourism and developing international economic relations,” said Joakim Helenius.

“Recent trends in the aviation market give us a unique opportunity to enlarge the Tallinn Airport into a regional hub, which can be served by Estonian Air and lets also other operators bring more passengers. In order to ensure sustainable development and growth we need to increase the amount of passengers flying through Tallinn,” added Helenius.

“There are different opportunities to finance further development of the airline and getting new aircraft and here we certainly don’t talk about funds from state budget only,” explained Helenius.

„As a team we are ready to take full responsibility for the results of 2013, which will be the first year to show the potential of the new strategy,“ said Helenius.

This week proposals on the new strategy will be sent to the Supervisory Board of Estonian Air and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.

In September Estonian Air increased fight frequencies on six year-round routes, opened a new route from Tallinn to Trondheim and resumed flights between Tallinn and Vilnius. Next spring Estonian Air will start operating direct flights between Tallinn and Jyväskylä.

Starting from September, Estonian Air offers very attractive fares by introducing new products ECO and LIGHT. Product ECO gives extra advantage for customers who purchase their tickets well in advance. Product LIGHT is meant for customers who are travelling with hand luggage only.

Estonia is the fastest growing aviation market in passenger numbers this year. According to data of the first six months the growth is 37%.