Airports looks to increase tourist traffic(150 words)

Published: 1/3/2001

The Spanish operator Iberworld Airlines has launched charter flights between Tallinn and Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, in cooperation with the Estonian travel agency, Continental Travel. The flights will take place once a week until the end of April. An A-320-200 from Iberworld's charter fleet of six Airbuses, based at Palma de Mallorca., will be used. For Tallinn the introduction of the flights to the Canaries marks the introduction of larger aircraft using the airport,which the state owned airport's Chairman Rein Loik believes is an important step in developing the airport's tourism business, currently only 30% of the airport's total traffic. In an interview with the Estonian News Agency, Loik said that the supervisory board has endorsed Tallinn Airport's plans for 2001, which anticipated an increase in revenues of 16%. Traffic growth however, was expected to be a more modest 6.5% lifting passenger numbers above 600,000 for the first time in 2001. The targeted turnover in 2001 for the airport is 178m kroons ($10.2m), with an expected profit of 20m kroons. The airport however, has a heavy debt burden of 437m kroons as a result of building new facilities at the airport, with the cost of servicing the debt 60m kroon alone.

Article ID: 2271