In Estonia, an uninterrupted air communication has been established both with the regions within its country, and with many world capitals and large cities. Some airports in Estonia have a Soviet past, after leaving the structure of the Union, administrative buildings, runways, aircraft and vehicle fleets have been repeatedly updated and reconstructed in accordance with modern standards.
International Airports of Estonia
Modern Estonia serves five airports, three of which are international. Since the country has access to the Baltic Sea, the Finnish and the Gulf of Riga , it includes the islands of Saarema and Hiiumaa, it is necessary to have regular flights connecting the islands with the continent.
The international airports of Estonia comply with all standards for the reception and maintenance of long-distance flights. The Estonian Air Navigation Service is wholly owned by the state and strictly monitors the safety and quality of passenger service.
1. The airport of Tallinn . The largest airport in the country is the capital airport of Tallinn - Iulemiste. It is located within the city limits, just 4 km from the city center. For the first time it was opened and put into operation in 1936, since that time many reconstructions have been organized, and in 2009 it was completely renewed, after which it became one of several major airports in Europe. After the final renovation, the airport was given the official status of the international airport of Estonia, named after one of the country's presidents - Lennart Mary.
Not far from Yulemiste is the country's main seaport. The airport has such distinctive characteristics:
- It is equipped with one runway with a length of 3500 m and a width of 45 m, from the main terminal there are 8 gates of passengers landing.
- Tallinn Airport is capable of accepting both medium-sized aircraft, such as Boeing 737-300 / 500 and Airbus A320, as well as large Boeing-747 type ships.
- In a year the airport is capable to serve about 2 million passengers.
- A large passenger terminal was built for the Moscow Olympics in 1980, and from 2007 to 2008, the terminal was completely rebuilt, which provided greater capacity and the ability to cope with the flow of visitors to the country arriving here after Estonia joined the EU.
With the airport ulemiste there is a public transportation service, so buses 2 and 65 can easily be reached to the city center.
2. Tartu Airport . Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia. The city's airport was built in 1946 near the village of Yulenurme, which is why it is still unofficially called by the name of this settlement. It is located 9 km from the center of Tartu.
For a long time after Estonia withdrew from the USSR in the Tartu airport there were no regular flights, it was considered an additional international airport in Estonia. After 2009, regular flights of Flybe Nordic to Finland six times a week from its territory.
The new passenger terminal Yulenurme was built in 1981, and already in 2005 the terminal was redesigned and the length of the runway increased by 1800 m.
Not far from Tartu airport is the Estonian Aviation Academy.
3. Pärnu Airport . The airport is located in a small distance from the city of Pärnu, it was built in 1939. After the entry of Estonia into the USSR, the airport of Pärnu was used as a military airfield. But since the summer of 1992, the newly formed Estonian Ministry of Defense has decided to transfer the airport for the needs of civil aviation. Until 1997, reconstruction of the runway and administrative buildings was carried out.
Today the airport of Pärnu commits both regular flights inside the country and an international communication with Sweden, taking and taking flights to Stockholm weekly.
4. Kuressaare Airport . Estonian airport Kuressaare serves domestic flights, is located on the island of Saaremaa. His official opening was in 1945, since that time, reconstruction was gradually carried out. The present building of the passenger terminal was opened in 1962. Today, Kuressaare produces regular departures connecting the island with the capital of the state, and also during the tourist season it resumes flights to the Estonian island of Ruhnu.
5. Kärdla Airport . Kärdla Airport is located on the second largest Estonian island of Hiiumaa, not far from the town of Kärdla with the same name. It was opened in 1963 and actively traveled to Tallinn , Tartu , Vormsi, Haapsalu , Kaunas, Murmansk and Riga . After Estonia gained independence, Kärdla Airport significantly reduced the number of flights. Today this air terminal operates smoothly and regularly, taking flights from Tallinn.