Riga International Airport

Riga International Airport Starptautiskā lidosta “Rīga”
Riga Airport Terminal
IATA: RIX – ICAO: EVRA
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Government of Latvia (Joint stock company)
Serves		Riga
Location		Mārupe municipality, Latvia
Hub for		airBaltic SmartLynx Airlines
Elevation AMSL		36 ft / 11 m
Coordinates		56°55′25″N 023°58′16″E
Website		www.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 (2012)
Number of Passengers			4,767,878
Source (excluding statistics): AIP at EUROCONTROL

Riga Airport terminal

Riga International Airport (Latvian: Starptautiskā lidosta “Rīga”; IATA: RIX, ICAO: EVRA) was built in 1973 as an alternative to Spilve Airport, which had become outdated. It is in Mārupe municipality, 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 has direct flights 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.

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. 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 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

airBaltic planes at Riga airport

airBaltic Boeing 757 takes off from RWY36 at Riga airport

Terminal plan

Passport stamp

Passenger

The following airlines have scheduled and charter services to Riga International Airport (as of April 2013):

Airlines	Destinations
Aeroflot	Moscow-Sheremetyevo
Astra Airlines	Seasonal Charter: Thessaloniki
airBaltic	Ålesund, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bergen, Berlin-Tegel, Brussels, Budapest, Chişinău, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Helsinki, Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen, Kaliningrad, Kaunas, Kiev-Boryspil, Lappeenranta, Larnaca, London-Gatwick, Milan-Malpensa, Minsk-National, Moscow-Domodedovo, Moscow-Sheremetyevo, Munich, Oslo-Gardermoen, Palanga, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Prague, Rome-Fiumicino, St Petersburg, Stavanger, Stockholm-Arlanda, Tallinn, Tampere, Tbilisi, Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion, Turku, Vaasa, Vilnius, Vienna, Warsaw-Chopin, Zurich Seasonal: Athens, Balaton , Bari, Malta, Nice, Odessa, Olbia , Rijeka (begins 6 June 2013), Simferopol, Tashkent, Venice Charter: Antalya, Bourgas, Dalaman, Heraklion, Hurghada, Sharm el-Sheikh
AMC Airlines	Charter: Hurghada
Austrian Airlines operated by Lauda Air	Charter: Innsbruck, Salzburg
Belavia	Minsk
Finnair operated by Flybe Nordic	Helsinki
Iberia Express	Madrid (begins 1 July 2013)
LOT Polish Airlines	Warsaw-Chopin
Lufthansa	Frankfurt
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Copenhagen, Oslo-Gardermoen, Trondheim, Stockholm-Arlanda
Onur Air	Charter: Antalya
Ryanair	Bergamo, Bremen, Charleroi, Dublin, East Midlands/Nottingham, Frankfurt-Hahn, Leeds/Bradford, London-Stansted, Manchester, Moss, Prestwick, Stockholm-Skavsta Seasonal: Weeze
SmartLynx Airlines	Charter: Antalya, Bergamo, Bourgas, Heraklion, Hurghada, Monastir, Rijeka, Sharm el-Sheikh, Tenerife-South, Varna
Transaero Airlines	Moscow-Domodedovo
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul-Atatürk
UTair Aviation	Moscow-Vnukovo
Uzbekistan Airways	New York-JFK, Tashkent
Wizz Air	Bergen, Eindhoven, London-Luton, Oslo-Torp

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
DHL Express	Leipzig/Halle
RAF-Avia	Aalborg, Amsterdam, Ankara, Copenhagen, Birmingham Airport, Coventry, East Midland/Nottingham, Helsinki, Innsbruck, Istanbul-Atatürk, Kiev-Boryspil, Laranca, Leipzig/Halle, Lisbon, Malmö, Moscow-Vnukovo, Ostrava, Prague, Simferopol
Sprintair	Warsaw-Chopin

Other facilities

AirBaltic has its head office on the property of Riga Airport. The Latvian Civil Aviation Agency has its head office at 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 2012, the airport served 4,767,878 passengers, a 7% decrease from 2011.

Passengers at Riga International Airport (x 1000)

1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013 (April)
310	398	504	506	535	555	562	574	623	633	712	1 060	1 878	2 495	3 161	3 691	4 066	4 664	5 107	4 768	1 347

Busiest Routes from Riga (2012)

Rank	City	Passengers
1	Moscow, Russia	371,188
2	London, United Kingdom	362,318
3	Helsinki, Finland	252,878
4	Oslo, Norway	250,431
5	Frankfurt, Germany	240,702
6	Stockholm, Sweden	190,710
7	Tallinn, Estonia	185,942
8	Vilnius, Lithuania	176,407

Busiest airports by passenger traffic in the Baltic States

Country	Airport	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001
Latvia	Riga Airport	4,767,764	5,106,692	4,663,647	4,066,854	3,690,549	3,160,945	2,495,020	1,878,035	1,060,426	711,753	633,322	622,647
Lithuania	Vilnius Airport	2,208,096	1,712,467	1,373,859	1,308,632	2,048,439	1,717,222	1,451,468	1,281,872	964,164	719,850	634,991	584,171
Estonia	Tallinn Airport	2,206,791	1,913,172	1,384,831	1,346,236	1,811,536	1,728,430	1,541,832	1,401,059	997,941	715,859	605,697	573,493
Lithuania	Kaunas Airport	830,268	872,618	809,732	456,698	410,165	390,881	248,228	77,350	27,113	21,732	19,891	20,137
Lithuania	Palanga Airport	128,169	111,133	102,528	104,600	101,586	93,379	110,828	94,000	76,020	46,666	45,971	45,660

Ground transport

• Bus
  • Bus route #22, operated by Rīgas Satiksme, runs between Riga city centre and the airport.
  • airBaltic in cooperation with Radisson Hotel Latvia offers a shuttle bus service – Airport Express. The bus operates between Riga airport and the Radisson 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.
  • Partybuses can be good transport for groups, which in Latvia are for entertainment.
• Parking
  • The airport also has 3 car parks, with ~1500 parking spaces, offering short- and long-term parking.
• Taxi
  • Three main taxi companies operate from Riga Airport.
• Motorway
  • The airport and European route E22 are connected by highway P133.

Plans

The Latvian government plans to build another terminal capable of handling 20 million passengers a year. The first part of this project began in 2008. Plans include 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. 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.

As the Latvian government may be backing out of the state-financed plan to build the 20 million passenger capable terminal, airBaltic is now planning, by 2014, to build for its own exclusive use a second terminal which can handle 40 planes and 5000 passengers per hour, equivalent to about 7.5 million passengers per year, located 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 as many at good service levels) for all other airlines to use. There will be also an additional entry to/exit from the runway, to minimize delays and maximize airport capacity, as total passenger traffic is expected to exceed 10 million per year by 2014. The airport has ILS CAT I.

See also

• List of the busiest airports in Europe
• List of largest airports in the Baltic states
• List of airports in Latvia
• Transportation in Latvia
• Rīgas Satiksme (Riga Public Transport)

External links

• Official website
  • Magazine GatewayRiga
• RIX Marks the Spot for Expansion
  • Riga International Airport Schedule
• Current weather for EVRA at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for RIX at Aviation Safety Network