100th Anniversary of Estonian Civil Aviation

Aeronaut, the first Estonian airline, was founded on 22 March 1921. The first plane of the company was a rented Sablatnig P-III, which operated postal flights to Finland. In August of the following year, the first of six Sablatnig P-III aircraft built under licence by Dvigatel was completed; the rest were completed next month. In 1922, Aeronaut also built a reinforced concrete hangar at Lasnamäe Airport.

The official founding date of Tallinn Airport is 20 September 1936 when a triangular concrete runway was opened on the shores of Lake Ülemiste, which allowed planes to land in any wind direction and in any season. For Tallinn, this established a year-round connection with the world.

Following the example of the most famous airports in the world, Tallinn Airport was named after one of the most remarkable politicians in Estonian history, Lennart Meri. The airport received its dignified name on 29 March 2009, 80 years after the birth of Lennart Meri.