Pärnu Airport ( et, Pärnu lennujaam, ) is an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. The airport is situated northwest of

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet o ...

Overview

In October 1937, the Pärnu town council designated an area of for the building of an airport. Operations at the new airport began in 1939. During the

Soviet occupation During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into two different ...

, the airfield was operated by the

Soviet Air Force The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

. It was an

interceptor aircraft An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are cap ...

base, operated by 366 IAP (366th Interceptor Aviation Regiment) and possibly the 655 IAP (655th Interceptor Aviation Regiment), which flew

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-23; NATO reporting name: Flogger) is a variable-geometry fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union. It is a third-generati ...

aircraft from the 1970s until the 1990s.

Aeroflot PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (russian: ПАО "Аэрофло́т — Росси́йские авиали́нии", ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; russian: Аэрофлот, , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. The ...

used to operate

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

Viljandi Viljandi (, german: Fellin, sv, Fellin) is a town and municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 17,407 in 2019. It is the capital of Viljandi County and is geographically located between two major Estonian cities, Pärnu and Tartu ...

-Kingissepa (now

Kuressaare Kuressaare () is a town on Saaremaa island in Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Saaremaa Parish and the capital of Saare County. Kuressaare is the westernmost town in Estonia. The recorded population on 1 January 2018 was 13,276. Th ...

) services using

Antonov An-2 The Antonov An-2 ("kukuruznik"—corn crop duster; USAF/DoD reporting name Type 22, NATO reporting name Colt) is a Soviet mass-produced single-engine biplane utility/agricultural aircraft designed and manufactured by the Antonov Design Bure ...

biplanes. In the summer of 1992, the re-constituted

Estonian defence ministry The Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Estonia ( et, Eesti Vabariigi Kaitseministeerium) and its head, the Minister of Defence, are responsible for organizing national defence. It is Estonia's ministry of defence. The mission of the Ministry ...

took over the military airport, which had drawn down its operations. On 15 October the same year it was decided to build a civil airport at the site of the old

military airport An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

. The old

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

was closed on 1 July 1997, and regular flights started to use the runway that had belonged to the Soviet air force. The small airline

Air Livonia Air Livonia was a small airline based at Pärnu Airport in Estonia providing scheduled and charter flights. Code data * ICAO Code: LIV *Callsign: LIVONIA Services Air Livonia operated the following scheduled services (at February 2005): * ...

flew from Pärnu to

Kihnu Kihnu is an island in the Baltic Sea. With an area of it is the largest island in the Gulf of Riga and the seventh largest island of Estonia. The length of the island is and width , the highest point is at above sea level. The island belongs ...

and

Ruhnu Ruhnu ( sv, Runö; german: Runö; lv, Roņu sala) is an Estonian island in the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is administratively part of Saare County but is geographically closer to the Latvian mainland. At , it has currently fewer than 100 ...

until 2006. In the summer of 2010,

Estonian Air Estonian Air was the flag carrier airline of Estonia between 1991 and 2015. Headquartered in Tallinn it operated scheduled services from Tallinn Airport. Prior to its closure, the airline flew from Tallinn to 11 destinations in Europe. From 19 ...

operated one return flight a week from

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. The airport is often visited by private aircraft from

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

and other European countries. 5,148 people travelled via Pärnu Airport in 2010. The airport was also used for charter flights from Finland and Sweden until 2014, when the deteriorating condition of the runway meant that it was no longer suitable for larger aircraft. In 2016, there were proposals to overhaul and refit the airport, alongside (possibly) a brand-new terminal for handling of larger jets. After a total of 14 months reconstruction the airport re-opened end of September 2021. Currently it hosts direct flights to

. Recently news reported, that NyxAir of Estonia will start flights to

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

in May 2022. In March 2022,

Scandinavian Airlines Scandinavian Airlines, more commonly known and styled as SAS, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''SAS'' is an abbreviation of the company's full name, Scandinavian Airlines System or legally Scandinavian Airlines System Denmark ...

announced that it will launch summer seasonal flights between Pärnu and

Stockholm Arlanda Airport Stockholm Arlanda Airport is an international airport located in the Sigtuna Municipality of Sweden, near the town of Märsta, north of Stockholm and nearly south-east of Uppsala. The airport is located within Stockholm County and the prov ...

. The direct route would be operated twice-weekly, starting from the 25th of June 2022.

Airlines and destinations

Statistics

List of the busiest airports in the Baltic states This is a list of the busiest airports in the Baltic states in terms of total number of Passengers, Aircraft movements and Freight and Mail Tonnes per year. The statistics includes major airports in the Baltic States with commercial regular traffi ...

References

External links

Pärnu Airport
Airports in Estonia Soviet Air Force bases Soviet Air Defence Force bases

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

1939 establishments in Estonia Tori Parish Buildings and structures in Pärnu County International airports in Estonia {{europe-airport-stub