Riga Airport - Leading the Baltic States!

The rise of Riga International Airport (IATA: RIX, ICAO:EVRA) has been rapid. In 2000 it handled just 500,000 passengers but just ten years later over 4.5 million people were travelling through RIX and the 5 million milestone is expected to be surpassed this year or next. In recent years, the global financial crisis has led to declining passenger numbers at airports across Europe. However, RIX has bucked the industry trend and enjoyed rapid growth, significantly driving passenger traffic in the Baltic region. As the table below illustrates, RIX is by far the largest of the three commercial airports serving the capitals of the three Baltic States.

Last year RIX handled 4.66 million passengers, a 15 per cent increase on the previous year and a continuation of its double-digit annual growth. National carrier airBaltic dominates schedules, with the remainder of the traffic split between flag carriers and low-cost entities.

RIX is now served by 19 different operators, of which six opened their first links to the airport in the last 12 months, a period that 12 additional destinations were added to its network. This has seen the region turned into a major passenger transfer hub connecting Scandinavia and the Baltics with Europe, Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Middle and Far East. Transfer passengers are, and are likely to remain, a prominent part of traffic at the airport, accounting for almost 40 per cent of its total traffic in 2010. In fact, last summer an estimated 60 per cent of Baltic Sea Region passengers transferred through RIX.

The local Baltic market remains a key part of the airport’s development, dominating frequencies, although flights into Scandinavia, London, Brussels and Frankfurt are also driving traffic growth. Ryanair’s link to London Stansted is estimated to be the largest single market from RIX, with around 122,000 passengers making use of the low-cost flight during 2010. A new fares structure introduced in November last year is also helping to attract new airlines and the growth of its network and frequencies. Charges per departing passenger are now set at €3.10 (down from €12.18), while arrival fees are €2.05 (previously €8.12).

This summer the airport is expecting a 16 per cent increase in frequencies as additional flights are added to existing destinations, including Kiev, Lappeenranta, Vilnius, Berlin, Kaliningrad, Bergen, Helsinki. Six new destinations will be opened: airBaltic will fly to Budapest and Gdansk four times a week and once a week to Bari, Turkish Airlines (THY) will serve Antalya twice a week and budget carrier Ryanair will offer four rotations per week to Rome Ciampino. Two new airlines are also serving RIX; Skyways 13 times weekly from Gothenburg and El Al from Tel Aviv. To support this growth the airport is to open three new gates from June 1.

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