Estonian venter 30% passasjervekst i 2005

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Fra Postimees:

Estonia's national air carrier, Estonian Air, forecasts that the price of air tickets will drop by around 20% in 2005. Speaking at the Business Plan 2005 conference in Tallinn, Mr Erki Urva, Estonian Air's board chairman, said prices have almost halved in the last few years and will continue to come down, albeit not as much as before.

Mr Urva said the drop in prices is due to increased competition, brought about by the entry of budget airlines. The number of holiday passengers is increasing rapidly thanks to the lower prices, and business customers are no longer the main group of clients on regular flights, he said.

Estonian Air expects its number of passengers to rise by around 30%, turnover by 10%, and profit by 5% in 2005. In 2005, the number of customers served by both Estonian Air and Tallinn Airport will increase by almost a third from this year. Mr Urva expects that the number of passengers passing through Tallinn Airport to reach 2mn by 2008.