Estonian Air
Estonia · ESTONIAN · Active
Airline Identity
History
Estonian Air was established by the Estonian government in October 1991, inheriting aircraft from a former Soviet Aeroflot division, and became the country's flag carrier as it rebuilt independent civil aviation. It was partially privatized in 1996 (with Maersk Air and Cresco Investment taking a combined 66% stake), passed to SAS when Maersk sold its stake in 2003, and was renationalized by the Estonian government in 2010 to prevent bankruptcy. In November 2015, the European Commission ruled that Estonian government funding provided to the airline breached EU state-aid rules and had to be repaid; unable to cover more than €85 million in claims, Estonian Air ceased all operations on 7–8 November 2015 and entered liquidation. The government replaced it with a new carrier, Nordica, founded in September 2015, which itself shut down in November 2024–January 2025 after a failed privatization.
Current Operations
Estonian Air does not operate and has had no direct operating successor since late 2024. After Estonian Air's 2015 liquidation, the Estonian government set up a new carrier, Nordica, which took over parts of the route network (and, under a 2016 court ruling, was found to be Estonian Air's legal successor for debt purposes) but which itself ceased all flying and entered bankruptcy proceedings on 20 November 2024 after a planned privatization collapsed and Scandinavian partner SAS ended a wet-lease/crewing arrangement with Nordica's subsidiary Xfly; Nordica was formally declared bankrupt on 28 January 2025. As of 2026, Estonia has no home-based scheduled national airline flying under its own brand, and the country is served primarily by foreign carriers.
Last verified 2026-09-02· Source: airline public disclosures, company press releases & aviation-industry reporting.