Riga International Airport Rīgas Starptautiskā Lidosta
IATA: RIX – ICAO: EVRA
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Government of Latvia (Joint stock company)
Location		Riga, Latvia
Hub for		airBaltic
Elevation AMSL		36 ft / 11 m
Coordinates		56°55′25″N 023°58′16″E / 56.92361°N 23.97111°E / 56.92361; 23.97111 (Riga International Airport)Coordinates: 56°55′25″N 023°58′16″E / 56.92361°N 23.97111°E / 56.92361; 23.97111 (Riga International Airport)
Website		http://www.riga-airport.com
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
18/36	3,200	10,500	Concrete/Asphalt
Statistics (2009)
Number of Passengers			4,066,793
Source (excluding statistics): AIP at EUROCONTROL

Riga International Airport (IATA: RIX, ICAO: EVRA) was built in 1973 as an alternative to Spilve Airport, which had become outdated. It is 5.4 NM (10.0 km; 6.2 mi) west of Riga, the capital of Latvia. It is the largest airport in the Baltic states and is directly connected to over 80 destinations in 30 countries. Renovation and modernization of the airport was completed in 2001, coinciding with the 800th anniversary of the founding of the city. The airport 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. Riga International Airport is a hub for airBaltic, SmartLynx Airlines, RAF-Avia, Vip Avia and Inversija airlines.

Riga International Airport
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View of the Riga International Airport's airfield at the waiting room
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In 2006, the new north terminal extension was opened. The airport has three terminals: A & C for non-Schengen, and B for Schengen departures. Arrivals 1, in terminal A, handles the Schengen arrivals, while Arrivals 2, in terminal C, handles the non-Schengen arrivals. Also, 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 Latvian Government also plans to build another terminal capable of handling 20 million passengers a year. The first part of this project began in 2008. The airport also plans to build new hotels, a business park, a second pier, new parking, a second runway, a new control tower, a new high-speed tram link or railway to the city centre, and a new check-in hall, all by 2011. The airport is currently soliciting bids for airport expansion that encompasses, as the first stage, a construction of a new (fourth) terminal with 23 gates facing north, and in the second stage, seamlessly joining the current airport terminals with the new terminal in a unified architectural entity.

airBaltic planes at Riga airport
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airBaltic Boeing 757 takes off from RWY36 at Riga airport
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As the Latvian Government may be backing out of the state financed plan to build the 30 Million passenger capable terminal, airBaltic is now in the planning stage to, by 2014, build a second terminal, capable of servicing 40 planes and 5000 passengers per hour, that is equivalent to approximately 7.5 Million passengers per year, for its own exclusive use, located right next to the current terminal, while leaving the current terminal (planned capacity of 2.5 Million passengers per year, but easily capable of handling twice more at good service levels) for all other airlines to use. There will be also an additional entry/exit built to/from the runway, in order to minimize delays and maximize the airport capacity, as it is expected to hit over 10 Million/year passengers combined handling by 2014.

The magazine GatewayRiga is available for visitors and passengers travelling through Riga airport. It has information on new airlines serving Riga, new destinations and routes, and other information about the airport itself and surrounding facilities. It is published three times per year by SIA Check-In Media.

Airlines and destinations

Scheduled airlines

The following airlines have scheduled services to Riga International Airport (as of October 2010):

Terminal plan

airBaltic plane at Riga airport

Charter airlines

In addition, the following airlines also have seasonal charter operations as of July 2010:

Cargo airlines

• DHL Express
• Inversija
• RAF-Avia
• Sprintair
• TNT NV
• Transavibaltika
• UPS

Other facilities

AirBaltic has its head office on the property of Riga Airport.

Traffic statistics

Riga International Airport is one of three notable airports in Latvia. The other two are Liepāja International Airport and Ventspils Airport. Riga International Airport's biggest air carrier is airBaltic. In 2008, the airport served 3,690,549 passengers, a 17% increase over 2007.

Ground transport

• Bus
  • Bus route #22, operated by Rīgas Satiksme, run between Riga city centre and the airport.
  • airBaltic in cooperation with Reval Hotel Latvia offers a shuttle bus service – Airport Express. The bus operates between the Riga airport and the Reval Hotel Latvia, (in the city centre).
  • There are international bus connections from the airport to cities in Estonia, Lithuania, Poland and Russia. Additional information on bus routes and schedules may be found at the airport information centre.
• Parking
  • The airport has also 3 car parks, with ~1500 parking spaces, offering short- and long-term parking.
• Taxi
  • Three main taxi companies may operate from Riga Airport.
• Motorway
  • The airport and European route E22 are connected by highway P133.

Upcoming

In March 2008, Riga Airport started a runway extension and lighting system reconstruction project. The main runway will be extended 650 meters for a total length of 3200 meters. Starting 13 March, the approach lights will be abbreviated to 400 meters from the runway's end. However, this will not affect the security of landing.

Work on the extension of the runway was completed by October 30, 2008. With the completion of this project, the airport has the capacity to serve international flights and is able to accommodate big aircraft including Airbus A340, Boeing 747's, 757's, 767's and 777's.

In September 2007, Riga Airport announced the construction of a new taxiway, Delta, with work on another taxiway, Alpha finished shortly. There are already finished roads to the new course antenna.

The content above was published at Airports-Worldwide.com in 2009.
We don't guarantee the information is fresh and accurate. The data may be wrong or outdated.
For more up-to-date information please refer to other sources.