| RIX Riga Airport | |
| Nativename: | Latvian: RIX Rīgas lidosta |
| Image2-Width: | 250 |
| Iata: | RIX |
| Icao: | EVRA |
| Built: | 1973 |
| Type: | Public |
| Owner: | Government of Latvia |
| City-Served: | Riga, Latvia |
| Location: | Mārupe Municipality |
| Hub: |
|
| Elevation-F: | 36 |
| Elevation-M: | 11 |
| Coordinates: | 56.9236°N 23.9711°W |
| Website: | riga-airport.com |
| Pushpin Map: | Latvia |
| Pushpin Label: | RIX |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the airport in Latvia |
| Metric-Rwy: | y |
| R1-Number: | 18/36 |
| R1-Length-M: | 3,200 |
| R1-Length-F: | 10,500 |
| R1-Surface: | Concrete/Asphalt |
| Stat-Year: | 2023 |
| Stat1-Header: | Number of Passengers |
| Stat1-Data: | 6,630,891[2] |
| Stat2-Header: | Passenger change 22–23 |
| Stat2-Data: | 23.2% |
| Footnotes: | Source (excluding statistics): AIP at EUROCONTROL |
| Stat3-Header: | Aircraft movements |
| Stat3-Data: | 61,345 |
| Stat4-Header: | Movements change 22–23 |
| Stat4-Data: | 11.9% |
| Stat5-Header: | Cargo (tonnes) |
| Stat5-Data: | 19,160 |
| Stat6-Header: | Cargo change 22–23 |
| Stat6-Data: | 9.7% |
RIX Riga Airport (Latvian: RIX Rīgas lidosta;) is the international airport of Riga, the capital of Latvia, and the largest airport in the Baltic states with direct flights to 76 destinations as of November 2019. It serves as a hub for airBaltic, SmartLynx Airlines and RAF-Avia, and as one of the base airports for Ryanair. The Latvian national carrier airBaltic is the largest carrier that serves the airport, followed by Ryanair. The airport is located in the Mārupe Municipality west of Riga, approximately 10 km from its city centre.
The airport was built in 1973 as an alternative to Spilve Airport, which had become outdated. It 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.[3]
In March 1995, Uzbekistan Airways began a flight from Tashkent to New York City that stopped in Riga.[4] [5] The carrier operated the service with an Airbus A310.[6] Due to poor demand, the airline rerouted it through Amsterdam three months later.[7] Renovation and modernization of the airport was completed in 2001, coinciding with the 800th anniversary of the founding of the city. Uzbekistan Airways moved the stop on its New York service back to Riga in October 2004. It employed Boeing 767s on the route. Closer ties between Uzbekistan and Latvia and the Latvian government's decision to lower the Riga airport's fees had encouraged the company to return.
In 2006 and 2016, the new north terminal extensions were opened. 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. In 2010, the first dedicated business aviation terminal of the Baltics opened at the airport.[8] Uzbekistan Airways terminated the Riga–New York flight in October 2017.[9]
The airport features a single, two-storey passenger terminal building which has been expanded and upgraded to modern standards several times in recent years. The landside consists of a main hall containing a single row of 36 check-in counters as well as some shops and the security area on the upper floor while the arrivals area, baggage reclaim and some service counters are located on the ground floor below. The airside features departure areas B and C split up into two piers with the former original, smaller boarding area A now only used for some arrivals. Both piers feature overall eight stands with jetbridges plus four walk-boarding stands from the upper level as well as several more gates for bus boarding on their ground levels. The B pier is used for Schengen Area departures and arrivals, while the C pier is for non-Schengen Area departures and arrivals. The terminal features outlets by Narvesen, Costa Coffee, and TGI Fridays amongst others, as well as a single airport lounge.[10]
The airport has a single runway in directions 18/36, which is 3,200 m in length and equipped with ILS CAT II.[11]
Both airBaltic and the Latvian Civil Aviation Agency maintain their head offices at Riga International Airport.[12]
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Riga:[13]
| Rank | City | Share of total traffic | Airlines | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London | 7.5% | airBaltic, Ryanair, British Airways | |
| 2 |  Helsinki | 5.3% | airBaltic. Finnair | |
| 3 |  Oslo | 4.5% | airBaltic, Norwegian Air Shuttle | |
| 4 |  Tallinn | 4.4% | airBaltic | |
| 5 |  Frankfurt | 3.9% | airBaltic, Lufthansa | |
| 6 |  Stockholm | 3.9% | airBaltic, Ryanair, Norwegian Air Shuttle | |
| 7 |  Vilnius | 3.5% | airBaltic | |
| 8 | Berlin | 3.3% | airBaltic, Ryanair | |
| 9 |  Warsaw | 3.0% | airBaltic, Ryanair | |
| 10 |  Vienna | 3.0% | airBaltic, Ryanair |
| 1 | Helsinki | ~55 | |
| 2 | Stockholm | ~32 | |
| 3 | Tallinn | ~30 | |
| 4 | Vilnius | ~28 | |
| 5 | Frankfurt | ~23 | |
| 6 | Oslo Gardermoen | ~23 | |
| 7 |  Copenhagen | ~20 | |
| 8 |  Amsterdam | ~17 | |
| 9 | Vienna | ~16 | |
| 10 | Berlin | ~15 |
| Rank | Airline | 2023, % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  airBaltic | 56.4% | |
| 2 |  Ryanair | 24.7% | |
| 3 | Norwegian Air Shuttle | 3.0% | |
| 4 |  Wizz Air | 2.9% | |
| 5 | Lufthansa | 2.3% | |
| 6 |  Turkish Airlines | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Finnair | 1.9% | |
| 8 | LOT Polish Airlines | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Smartlynx Airlines | 0.8% | |
| 10 | Others | 4.1% |
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 and Germany.
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.
An airport train station is included as part of the Rail Baltica project. A contract for construction design was signed on 20 March 2018.[16]