Riga International Airport

Riga International Airport
Starptautiskā lidosta "Rīga"
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Government of Latvia
Operator TAV Airports
Serves Riga, Latvia
Location Mārupe Municipality
Hub for
Elevation AMSL 36 ft / 11 m
Coordinates 56°55′25″N 023°58′16″E / 56.92361°N 23.97111°E / 56.92361; 23.97111Coordinates: 56°55′25″N 023°58′16″E / 56.92361°N 23.97111°E / 56.92361; 23.97111
Website riga-airport.com
Map
RIX
Location of the airport by Riga
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
18/36 3,200 10,500 Concrete/Asphalt
Statistics (2017)
Number of Passengers 6,097,765
Aircraft movements 74,839
Source (excluding statistics): AIP at EUROCONTROL

Riga International Airport (Latvian: Starptautiskā lidosta "Rīga"; IATA: RIX, ICAO: EVRA) is the international airport of Riga, the capital of Latvia, and the largest airport in the Baltic states with direct flights to 100 destinations in 30 countries. It serves as a hub for airBaltic, SmartLynx Airlines, RAF-Avia and as one of the base airports for Wizz Air. The Latvian national carrier airBaltic is the biggest in the airport, followed by Ryanair.

The airport is located in the Mārupe Municipality west of Riga and is a state-owned joint-stock company, with the owner of all shares being the government of Latvia. The holder of the state capital share is Latvia's Ministry of Transport. AirBaltic and the Latvian Civil Aviation Agency both maintain their head offices at Riga International Airport.[1]

History

The airport was built in 1973 as an alternative to Spilve Airport, which had become outdated.

Renovation and modernization of the airport was completed in 2001, coinciding with the 800th anniversary of the founding of the city. In 2006 and 2016, the new north terminal extensions were opened. The airport has three terminals: A & B for Schengen and C for both Schengen and non-Schengen departures. Arrivals 1, in terminal A, handles the Schengen arrivals, while Arrivals 2, in terminal C, handles the non-Schengen arrivals.[2] A maintenance, repair and overhaul facility was opened in the autumn of 2006, to be run as a joint venture between two local companies: Concors and SR-Technik. The airport has ILS CAT II.[3] In 2010, the first dedicated business aviation terminal of the Baltics opened at the airport.[4]

The airport is owned by the Republic of Latvia via the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Latvia.[5]

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Riga:[6]

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
Aeroflot Moscow–Sheremetyevo
airBaltic Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin–Tegel, Billund, Brussels, Budapest, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, Gothenburg, Hamburg, Helsinki, Kaliningrad, Kiev–Boryspil, Larnaca, Liepāja, Lisbon, London–Gatwick, Madrid, Málaga, Milan–Malpensa, Minsk, Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Munich, Nice, Oslo–Gardermoen, Palanga, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Prague, Rome–Fiumicino, Saint Petersburg, Stockholm–Arlanda, Tallinn, Tampere, Tbilisi, Tel Aviv–Ben Gurion, Turku, Vienna, Vilnius, Warsaw–Chopin, Zürich
Seasonal: Aberdeen, Abu Dhabi, Almaty, Athens, Bordeaux, Baku, Catania, Dubrovnik, Gdańsk, Kazan, Malta, Odessa, Olbia, Palma de Mallorca, Poprad–Tatry, Reykjavík–Keflavík, Rhodes, Rijeka, Salzburg, Split, Sochi, Stavanger, Stuttgart (begins 31 March 2019), Thessaloniki, Venice, Verona
Seasonal charter: Ancona,[7] Antalya,[7] Burgas,[7] Heraklion,[7] Patras[7]
Belavia Minsk
Corendon Airlines Seasonal charter: Antalya[8]
Ellinair Seasonal: Thessaloniki
Seasonal charter: Corfu, Heraklion
Finnair Helsinki
LOT Polish Airlines Warsaw–Chopin
Lufthansa Frankfurt
Norwegian Air Shuttle Copenhagen, Oslo–Gardermoen, Stockholm–Arlanda, Trondheim
Seasonal: Bergen
Ryanair Bergamo, Berlin–Schönefeld, Bremen, Charleroi, Cologne/Bonn, Dublin, East Midlands, Edinburgh (begins 3 November 2018), Glasgow (ends 24 October 2018),[9] Hahn, Leeds/Bradford, London–Stansted, Malta, Manchester, Paphos, Prague (begins 2 April 2019)[10]
Seasonal: Burgas, Eindhoven, Girona
Scandinavian Airlines Stockholm–Arlanda
SmartLynx Airlines Seasonal charter: Antalya,[8] Bergamo,[8] Burgas,[8] Corfu,[8] Fuerteventura,[8] Funchal,[8] Geneva,[8] Gran Canaria,[8] Heraklion,[8] Hurghada,[8] Ras Al Khaimah,[8] Rhodes,[8] Sharm el-Sheikh,[8] Tenerife–South,[8] Tivat,[8] Trieste,[8] Varna[8]
Turkish Airlines Istanbul–Atatürk
Ukraine International Airlines Kiev–Boryspil
Utair Moscow–Vnukovo
Uzbekistan Airways Tashkent
Wizz Air Barcelona, Bari, Bergen, Doncaster/Sheffield, Dortmund, Eindhoven, Kiev-Zhuliany (begins 2 March 2019),[11] Kutaisi, London–Luton, Reykjavík–Keflavík, Sandefjord, Tel Aviv–Ben Gurion
Seasonal: Eilat–Ovda

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
ASL Airlines Belgium Vilnius
DHL Aviation Vilnius
SprintAir Vilnius
Turkish Cargo Seasonal: Prague, Istanbul–Atatürk

Statistics

Route statistics

Busiest routes from Riga (2017)[12]
Rank City Passengers Airlines
1 United Kingdom London 579,288 airBaltic, Ryanair, Wizz Air
2 Russia Moscow 493,919 Aeroflot, airBaltic, RusLine, Utair
3 Germany Frankfurt 286,595 airBaltic, Lufthansa, Ryanair
4 Finland Helsinki 286,595 airBaltic, Finnair
5 Norway Oslo 268,302 airBaltic, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Wizz Air
6 Sweden Stockholm 250,008 airBaltic, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Scandinavian
7 Germany Berlin 243,911 airBaltic, Ryanair
8 Estonia Tallinn 219,520 airBaltic
9 Denmark Copenhagen 201,226 airBaltic, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Scandinavian
10 Ukraine Kiev 170,737 airBaltic, Ukraine International Airlines

Annual passenger numbers at Riga Airport (millions)

Update: August 2018

Ground transportation

Check-in
Bus stop at Riga Airport

Bus

Riga Airport is accessible by bus line 22, operated by Rīgas Satiksme, which runs between Riga city centre and the airport. Moreover, there are international bus connections from the airport to cities in Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Russia and Belarus.

Car

Riga Airport can be reached by car via the highway P133 which connects the airport with European route E22. The airport has 3 car parking areas, with ~1500 parking spaces, offering both short- and long-term parking.

Rail

An airport train station is included as part of the Rail Baltica project. A contract for construction design was signed on 20 March 2018.[13]

Incidents and accidents

  • On 17 September 2016 an airBaltic Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 NextGen aircraft made an emergency landing on the runway of Riga International Airport without its nose landing gear deployed. The plane was carrying 63 passengers and 4 crewmembers and was forced to return to Riga International Airport following issues with its front chassis. The runway was closed between 10:26 and 15:55 as a safety precaution following an emergency landing. Seven inbound flights and four outbound flights were cancelled, 17 flights were diverted to Tallinn Airport and Kaunas Airport and others were delayed. The aircraft involved was YL-BAI and the flight BT 641 was scheduled to fly from Riga to Zürich Airport. No injuries were reported.[14][15][16]
  • On 17 February 2017 a VIM Airlines charter flight to Ufa, Russia slid off the runway during take-off. The plane was carrying 40 passengers and 7 crew members. No injuries were reported. The aircraft's engine was damaged as it hit airport equipment. The runway was inspected and closed for three hours after incident. Flights were diverted to Tallinn Airport and Kaunas Airport and others were delayed.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Contacts." Latvian Civil Aviation Agency. Retrieved on 19 January 2012. "Civil aviation agency Address: Airport "Riga", LV-1053, Latvia"
  2. ↑ "Terminal and territory plan". riga-airport.com. Riga International Airport. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  3. ↑ "Operational Facilities". Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  4. ↑ "Russia invests in Riga Airport". www.baltictimes.com. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
  5. ↑ "Airport at a glance". Riga Airport Website.
  6. ↑ riga-airport.com - Flight schedules retrieved 16 October 2016
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "airBaltic to operate charter flights for Tez Tour Latvija". worldairlinenews.com. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "My Flight". smartlynx.aero.
  9. ↑ "Ryanair axes flights from Glasgow, putting hundreds of jobs at risk". Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  10. ↑ "Ryanair Launches Record Prague Summer 19 Schedule". Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  11. ↑ Aviation24.be. "Further expansion for Wizz Air in Ukraine (from Summer 2019)".
  12. ↑ "Statistics" (PDF). www.riga-airport.com. 2017.
  13. ↑ "Riga Airport rail station contract signed". LSM. 21 March 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  14. ↑ "airBaltic flight makes emergency landing at Riga airport". The Baltic Course. 17 September 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  15. ↑ "17 flights diverted today due to closed runway at Riga Airport". The Baltic Times. 17 September 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  16. ↑ "Incidents ar 'airBaltic' lidmašīnu ietekmējis 1341 kompānijas pasažieri" (in Latvian). www.delfi.lv. 17 September 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.

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