Tag Archives: Estonian Air

Estonian Air and its pilots agree to a new contract, adverting a strike

Estonian Air (Tallinn) is moving ahead with its restructuring plan. The airline and its pilots have agreed to a new Collective Agreement. The pilots were threatening to strike the company yesterday and the negotiations and now a new contract adverted the strike. However the flag carrier faces major challenges for survival.

The struggling carrier has not made any money since 2006. The airline is downsizing and will rally around a fleet of just Bombardier CRJ900s for the next summer season operating on its most profitable routes.

The airline issued the following statement:

Estonian Air and Estonian Pilots Trade Association (ELA) signed a Collective Agreement which has been confirmed by the Supervisory Board of Estonian Air which had its regular meeting today. The Collective Agreement is valid up till January 31, 2014.

โ€œThe company has signed the Collective Agreement with ELA and from now on the management can carry on the implementation of Estonian Air restructuring,โ€ commented Erkki Raasuke, the Chairman of Estonian Air Supervisory Council.

โ€œAfter signing the Agreement, Estonian Air is able to focus on its daily operations on passenger servicing,โ€ said Jan Palmรฉr, the CEO of Estonian Air. โ€œToday we can assure to our customers that all Estonian Air flights are operated according to the schedule.โ€œ

According to Rauno Menning, the Chairman of the Pilots Trade Association, an agreement has been achieved regarding rest and duty times. โ€œThe Collective Agreement will ensure the industrial peace inside the company,โ€ added Menning.

The Collective Agreement is regulating duty and rest time, working conditions and relations between the airline and the Trade Union.

The provisions of the new Collective Agreement signed by the Pilots Trade Association are extended to all pilots of Estonian Air. The Pilots Trade Association is uniting approximately 80 pilots, out of which 70 are working at Estonian Air.
On 13 December 2012, Estonian Air signed a Collective Agreement with Estonian Air Cabin Crew Union which is valid up till the end of 2013. The Estonian Air Cabin Crew Union is uniting approximately 80 crew members.

Read the analysis by Bloomberg: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Stefan Sjogren. The aircraft of the future Estonian Air fleet will now only be the pictured CRJ900 according to Airline Route. The new Embraer E-Jets will apparently be phased out, following the same exit as the Boeings. CRJ900 (CL-600-2D24) ES-ACB (msn 15261) touches down at Stockholm (Arlanda).

Estonian Air:ย AG Slide Show

Estonian Air introduces a new “Fly to Estonia” logoplane, will retire the last Boeing 737-500 on October 21

Estonian Air (Tallinn) has repainted its SAAB 340B ES-ASO (msn 223) from the “Hockeybird” to a special “Fly to Estonia” livery to promote winter travel to the country. The first flight from Tallinn in the new design was completed on October 11 and the special livery will stay until the end of this year.

The aircraft will operate from Tallinn to Vilnius, Helsinki, Joensuu, Jyvรคskylรค, St Petersburg and Tartu.

The airline issued the following statement:

In the framework of an ongoing co-operation between Estonian Air and EAS (Enterprise Estonia), one of the SAAB 340 aircraft in Estonian Air fleet was given a special livery to attract tourists from the regional destinations of Estonian Air to spend winter holidays in Estonia. This is a continuation of the marketing campaign carried out in October in Lithuania, Russia, Finland, Sweden and Norway, promoting the possibilities of spending winter holidays in Estonia.

โ€œEAS and Estonian Air have common goals โ€“ to be visible on world map, bring a lot of foreign tourists to Estonia and do so in a special way. This beautiful aircraft design is a good example of co-operation between domestic organisations,โ€ says Marketing Director of the Estonian Tourist Board at Enterprise Estonia, Tarmo Mutso.

“Research shows that aircraft is the advertising channel with the highest level of message recall, i.e. people recall afterwards not only the medium of the advertisement but even the message itself”, explains Gunnar Mรคgi, head of marketing and development in Estonian Air. “Since European airports enjoy a very high concentration of people, I am confident that our invitation will not go unnoticed”, he added.

In other news, the company will retire the last Boeing 737-500 on October 21 when the assigned aircraft completes a round trip between Tallinn and Paris (CDG) per Airline Route.

Top Copyright Photo: Estonian Air.

Estonian Air:ย 

Bottom Copyright Photo: Keith Burton. Boeing 737-53S ES-ABH 9msn 29074) climbs away from Southend.

Estonian Air opens a new seasonal route to Venice

Estonian Air (Tallinn) today (June 9)ย opened a new seasonal destination from Tallinn to Venice. The flights are operated twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The route will be operated until September 1, 2012.

Copyright Photo: Andi Hiltl.ย 

Estonian Air:ย 

Estonian Air launches a new route to Georgia

Estonian Air (Estonian Airlines) Bombardier CRJ900 (CL-600-2D24) ES-ACB (msn 15261) AMS (Michael Stappen). Image: 907129.

Estonian Air (Estonian Airlines) (Tallinn) yesterday (April 8) launched a new route from its Tallinn base to Tbilisi, Georgia. The new route will be operated four days a week with Bombardier CRJ900s.

Copyright Photo: Michael Stappen.

Estonian Air Slide Show: CLICK HERE

Estonian Air takes delivery of its first Embraer 170 in a revised livery

Estonian Air (Talinn) has taken delivery of theย first 76-seater Embraer 170. The new arrival landed at Tallinn Airport yesterday (February 22). ERJ 170-100 ES-AEA (msn 17000093, ex OH-LEE) was delivered to Estonian Air under a lease agreement with Finnair (Helsinki). The aircraft is the first one carrying the new livery announced a week ago. Altogether Estonian Air will get four Embraer ERJ-170s aircraft from Finnair.

The first Embraer will make its first regular revenue flight in a few days. The other three aircraft will be delivered to Estonia in the coming weeks.

Estonian Air has selected Embraer E-Jet family to support its long-term strategy. Estonian Air is estimating a requirement for 12 Embraer E-Jet aircraft that will enable the company to increase flight frequencies, open new destinations and to operate at least double daily services to its main destinations in Europe.

The company is currently negotiating with the manufacturer and lessors on the delivery schedules and conditions for the further eight aircraft. These aircraft will be a mix of ERJ-175 and ERJ-190 models, which offer 88 and 112 seats respectively. The aircraft are scheduled to enter the fleet in the 2013-2015 time period.

Concerning the new livery, the airline released the following information:

“The new livery is part of Estonian Air brand renewal to emphasize the companyโ€™s important attributes: comfort, smartness, reliability and positively surprising. New livery includes the well-known and traditional Estonian Air colors, which have became very popular among our customers, but presents them in a fresh and modern way. Estonian national flower โ€“ the cornflower โ€“ ornaments have been added as well as a new rising line, which covers Estonian Air fresh brand concept and symbolizes being forward-looking and innovative.”

Estonian Air Photo Gallery: CLICK HERE

Top Copyright Photo and Image Below: Estonian Air.

Estonian Air continues its European expansion

Estonian Air (Tallinn) continues to announce new European routes as the company expands.

The flag carrier will launch twice-weekly Boeing 737-500 seasonal service between Tallinn and Venice from June 9, 2012 through September 1, 2012.

Starting in the spring 2012, Estonian Air will open three new routes to Finland:
on March 26 to Joensuu with four flights a week, on March 27 to Kokkola/Pietarsaari with six flights a week and on April 3 to Kajaani with four flights a week.

In addition, on April 8, 2012, Estonian Air will open a new route to Tbilisi, Georgia with four weekly flights.

Estonian Air flies nonstop to more than 20 destinations in the CIS, Scandinavia and in Europe.

Copyright Photo: Stefan Sjogren.

Estonian Air Slide Show: CLICK HERE

Estonian Air to launch two new routes from Tallinn

Estonian Air (Tallinn) on March 25, 2012 will launch flights from Tallinn to Vienna with six flights a week and on April 2, 2012 from Tallinn to Hannover with six flights a week.

Estonian Air will serve the routes with 88-seater Bombardier CRJ900 NextGen aircraft. Tallinn-Vienna flight duration is 2 hour and 10 minutes and Tallinn-Hanover 1 hour 55 minutes.

Copyright Photo: Stefan Sjogren.

Estonian Air Slide Show: CLICK HERE

The government of Estonia approves Estonian Air’s new strategy, will re-enter markets and retire the Boeings

Estonian Air (Tallinn) will receive $30 million Euros in investments from the government of Estonia. The government has also approved the flag carrier’s strategy to return to profitability.

Estonian Air is owned by theย Estonian governmentย (90%) and the SAS Groupย (10%). The SAS Group previously held 49% of the stock.

The company will receive four additional Bombardier CRJ900s which will allow the airline to retire the last Boeing 737 in 2012.

Estonian Air has also announced it will relaunch routes to Riga and Helsinki and increases the flight frequencies to nearby markets like Stockholm, St. Petersburg and Vilnius as part of its new strategy.

On March 25, 2012, Estonian Air will reopen flights between Tallinn and Riga with 17 weekly fights. Estonian Air will serve the route with three daily flights on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and with daily flight on Saturdays and Sundays.

Starting on March 26, 2012, Estonian Air will reopen flights between Tallinn and Helsinki with 18 weekly fights. Estonian Air will serve the route with three daily flights on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, with daily flights on Saturdays and double daily flights on Sundays.

From March 25, 2012, Estonian Air will increase the frequencies on the Tallinn-Stockholm route up to 30 weekly flights.

From March 26, 2012, Estonian Air will increase the frequencies on the Tallinn-St. Petersburg route up to 12 weekly flights.

Finally on March 25, 2012, Estonian Air will increase the flight frequencies on the Tallinn-Vilnius route up to 17 weekly flights.

Read the full story from Travel Daily News: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Christian Volpati.

Estonian Air Slide Show: CLICK HERE

Estonian Air takes delivery of its first Bombardier CRJ900

Estonian Air (Tallinn) has taken delivery of its first new Bombardier CRJ900 and quickly pressed the new type into revenue service.

Copyright Photo: Stefan Sjogren. Please click on the photo for the full details.

SAS Group to downsize its share in Estonian Air

SAS Group (Stockholm) has reached an agreement with the Estonian Government that will result in SAS divesting its 49% stake in Estonian Air (Tallinn). The Estonian Government will provide approximately MSEK 200 in a new rights issue and SAS will convert approximately MSEK 20 in loans into equity. After the rights issue the Estonian State will hold 90% and SAS 10% of Estonian Air. SAS will remain lender of approximately MSEK 70 in loans with a maturity in 2014.

Estonian Air has an option to buy SAS remaining stake and SAS has the option to sell its stake at Fair Market Value after 4 years. The transaction is conditional upon parliamentary approval in Estonia. The transaction is neutral to profit and liquidity of the SAS Group.

SAS will continue its commercial cooperation with Estonian Air.

Copyright Photo: Christian Volpati. Estonian Air’s smart-looking Boeing 737-5L9 ES-ABI (msn 29234) taxies across the ramp at Paris (CDG).