Riga International Airport

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The airport was built in 1973 as an alternative to Spilve Airport, which had become outdated.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

In March 1995, Uzbekistan Airways began a flight from Tashkent to New York City that stopped in Riga. The carrier operated the service with an Airbus A310. Due to poor demand, the airline rerouted it through Amsterdam three months later. 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. Uzbekistan Airways terminated the Riga–New York flight in October 2017.

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 both Schengen and non-Schengen Area departures and arrivals. The terminal features outlets by Narvesen and Costa Coffee amongst others, as well as a single airport lounge. And now they have started the master plan which includes building a south pier, and a new air traffic control tower.

Runway

The airport has a single runway in directions 18/36, which is 3,200 m in length and equipped with ILS CAT II. ILS frequency of 110.30

Other facilities

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

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

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

| Aegean Airlines | Seasonal: Athens | airBaltic | Alicante, Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Belgrade (resumes 30 March 2026), Berlin, Billund, | Air Montenegro | Seasonal charter: Tivat | British Airways | London–Heathrow (ends 28 March 2026) | Finnair | Helsinki | flydubai | Dubai–International | FlyOne | Tashkent (begins ) | Freebird Airlines | Seasonal charter: Antalya, Bodrum | Heston Airlines | Seasonal charter: Bergamo, Burgas, Enfidha, Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh, Tivat | LOT Polish Airlines | Warsaw–Chopin | Lufthansa | Frankfurt | Mavi Gök Airlines | Seasonal charter: Antalya | Norwegian Air Shuttle | Alicante, Bergen (begins 31 March 2026), Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm–Arlanda, Trondheim Seasonal: Burgas, Gothenburg (begins 29 March 2026), Tivat | Ryanair | Aarhus, Barcelona, Bergamo, Charleroi, Dublin, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Kraków, Leeds/Bradford, London–Stansted, Málaga, Malta, Manchester, Memmingen, Paphos, Prague, Rome–Fiumicino, Sandefjord, Stockholm–Arlanda, | Scandinavian Airlines | Copenhagen (begins 8 March 2026) | Skyline Express | Seasonal charter: Hurghada | SkyUp Airlines | Seasonal charter: Hambantota–Mattala, Sharm El Sheikh | Turkish Airlines | Istanbul | Uzbekistan Airways | Tashkent

Cargo

| Swift air | Kaunas

Statistics

Route statistics

Largest airlines

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. A shuttlebus service to the airport from the Riga International Bus Terminal was launched in 2024 by Lux Express, but was discontinued in 2025 due to low demand. Moreover, there are international bus connections from the airport to cities in Estonia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany.

Taxi

Due to instances of overcharging passengers, a taxi voucher system was implemented in April 2024 that offers a fixed-price ticket for a trip to central Riga (right and left bank) by using companies which have received a special licence. Other taxis and ride hailing services are also available.

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.

Incidents and accidents

• On 17 September 2016, an airBaltic Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 NextGen aircraft made an emergency landing without its nose landing gear deployed. The plane was carrying 63 passengers and 4 crew members and was forced to return to Riga following issues with its front chassis. The runway was closed between 10:26 and 15:55 as a safety precaution following an emergency landing. Seven inbound flights and four outbound flights were cancelled, 17 flights were diverted to Tallinn Airport and Kaunas Airport and others were delayed. The aircraft involved was YL-BAI and the flight BT 641 was scheduled to fly from Riga to Zürich Airport. No injuries were reported.
• On 17 February 2017, a VIM Airlines charter flight to Ufa, Russia slid off the runway during take-off. The aircraft was carrying the Togliatti Lada ice hockey club team, including 40 passengers and 7 crew members. No injuries were reported. The aircraft's engine was damaged as it hit airport equipment. The runway was inspected and closed for three hours after the incident. Flights were diverted to Tallinn Airport and Kaunas Airport and others were delayed.
• On 3 December 2021, due to heavy snowfall, an airBaltic Airbus A220-300 (YL-CSE) slid off the runway after the landing from Stockholm on flight BT102.
• On 8 March 2023, an airBaltic flight from Paris slid off the runway while landing. None of the 89 passengers or 7 crew members were injured.

References

References

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