Riga International Airport Explained

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.

History

The airport was built in 1973 as an alternative to Spilve Airport, which had become outdated.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

Facilities

Terminal

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]

Runway

The airport has a single runway in directions 18/36, which is 3,200 m in length and equipped with ILS CAT II.[11]

Other facilities

Both airBaltic and the Latvian Civil Aviation Agency maintain their head offices at Riga International Airport.[12]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Riga:[13]

Cargo

Statistics

Route statistics

Busiest routes from Riga (2023)[14]
RankCityShare of total trafficAirlines
1 London7.5%airBaltic, Ryanair, British Airways
2 Helsinki5.3%airBaltic. Finnair
3 Oslo4.5%airBaltic, Norwegian Air Shuttle
4 Tallinn4.4%airBaltic
5 Frankfurt3.9%airBaltic, Lufthansa
6 Stockholm3.9%airBaltic, Ryanair, Norwegian Air Shuttle
7 Vilnius3.5%airBaltic
8 Berlin3.3%airBaltic, Ryanair
9 Warsaw3.0%airBaltic, Ryanair
10 Vienna3.0%airBaltic, Ryanair
Top 10 most frequent routes from Riga as of July 2024[15] !Rank!City!Flights per week
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

Largest airlines

Largest airlines by passengers (2023)
RankAirline2023, %
1 airBaltic56.4%
2 Ryanair24.7%
3 Norwegian Air Shuttle3.0%
4 Wizz Air2.9%
5 Lufthansa2.3%
6 Turkish Airlines2.2%
7 Finnair1.9%
8 LOT Polish Airlines1.6%
9 Smartlynx Airlines0.8%
10Others4.1%

Annual passenger numbers

Ground transportation

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 and Germany.

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.[16]

Incidents and accidents

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Norwegian confirms Riga, Latvia base for 2Q24 .
  2. News: RIX STATISTICS REPORT 2023. July 22, 2024. riga-airport.com.
  3. Web site: Airport at a glance. Riga Airport Website. 25 July 2015. 24 September 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170924033126/http://www.riga-airport.com/en/main/about-company. dead.
  4. News: Uzbekistan Airways marks 20th anniversary of launch flights to New York . UzDaily . 2015-04-03 . 12 January 2023.
  5. News: Рига привлекает авиакомпании . Biznes & Baltiya . 2004-11-01 . 2023-05-13 . Novak, Alexey . ru.
  6. . World airline report: 1994 - Europe . Air Transport World . 32 . 6 . June 1995.
  7. News: Узбеки отправятся за океан через Ригу . Biznes & Baltiya . 2004-09-29 . 2023-05-16 . Novak, Alexey . ru.
  8. Web site: Russia invests in Riga Airport. baltictimes.com. en. 2017-12-03.
  9. Web site: Uzbekistan Airways S18 New York / Riga service changes as of 11OCT17 . Routesonline . 12 October 2017 . 4 June 2021 . Liu, Jim . 2017-10-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171013013357/https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/275214/uzbekistan-airways-s18-new-york-riga-service-changes-as-of-11oct17/.
  10. http://www.riga-airport.com/en/main/passengers/useful-information/terminal-and-territory-plan riga-airport.com - Terminal and territory plan
  11. Web site: Operational Facilities. 3 June 2015. 23 April 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150423072828/http://www.riga-airport.com/en/main/b2b/aviation/airlines/operational-facilities. dead.
  12. "Contacts." Latvian Civil Aviation Agency. Retrieved on 19 January 2012. "Civil aviation agency Address: Airport "Riga", LV-1053, Latvia"
  13. http://www.riga-airport.com/en/main/flights/flight_schedules riga-airport.com - Flight schedules
  14. Web site: Statistics . December 2023. www.riga-airport.com . 17 July 2024.
  15. Web site: Flightradar24 . Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map . 2024-07-17 . Flightradar24 . en.
  16. News: Riga Airport rail station contract signed . LSM . 21 March 2018 . 5 July 2018.
  17. News: airBaltic flight makes emergency landing at Riga airport . The Baltic Course . 17 September 2016 . 21 September 2016.
  18. News: 17 September 2016 . 17 flights diverted today due to closed runway at Riga Airport . . 21 September 2016.
  19. News: Incidents ar 'airBaltic' lidmašīnu ietekmējis 1341 kompānijas pasažieri . delfi.lv . lv . 17 September 2016 . 21 September 2016.
  20. Web site: Runway excursion Serious incident Boeing 737-524 (WL) VP-BVS, 17 Feb 2017.
  21. News: Plane slid off runway in Rīga; no injuries . lsm.lv . en . 9 March 2023 . 9 March 2023.