MARKET REPORT - Saab Aircraft Leasing

MARKET REPORT
Kalda underlines “Until finalizing necessary documents, Golden Air
operated the flights instead of Estonian Air Regional, but the service
on board was according to Estonian Air standard.”
On March 6, 2008 Estonian Air Regional received the air carrier’s
Operating License from the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs
and Communications and the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from
Estonian Civil Aviation Administration. “This made it possible to
enter the Saab 340 aircraft into the Estonian aircraft registry. Having
our own AOC and Operating License simplifies running of the company
and make the operations even more effective,” adds Kalda.
In the first eight months of 2008, Estonian Air carried 483,875
passengers, a 10.3% increase year-on-year. In August, Estonian Air
flew 73,335 passengers, a 1% increase year-on-year despite the drop
in charter operations.
Government beginnings...
Estonian Air was established and started operations on December 1,
1991, shortly after Estonia reacquired independence. It was founded
by the Estonian government with aircraft acquired from the defunct
local Aeroflot Division and was partially privatized five years later.
The privatization allowed the acquisition of Boeing 737-500s to replace
its old Soviet planes. The first two arrived in 1995 and by the
following year, after obtaining more of the Western-built aircraft, it
was able to retire the Soviet fleet entirely. The airline now operates six
of the type and next spring will introduce two new Bombardier CRJ-
900NG aircraft.
Estonian Air has strong links with SAS. It operates frequent flights to
SAS hubs – the airline boasts “Well connected with SAS” status and
the airline’s frequent flyer program is SAS’ EuroBonus scheme.
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Market Report | October 2008