Riga International Airport handles the bulk of air passenger traffic in the Baltic

In the period from January to June 2011 passenger traffic to 65 of Riga Airport’s 86 destinations rose significantly. The number of passengers grew by about 200 thousand to such destinations as Moscow, Vilnius, Helsinki, Oslo, London, Kiev, Rome, Antalya, Tallinn, and Amsterdam.

„The rise of passenger numbers can be explained by the fact that new airlines commenced operations on several routes while the existing carriers increased their flight frequency," said Arnis Luhse, Chairman of the Board of Riga International Airport.

For example, in the first half of 2010 two airlines – airBaltic and Aeroflot - carried passengers to Moscow whereas this year already four carriers operate on the route to/from Moscow: the above mentioned two as well as Transaero and UTair. The number of passengers flying to/from Vilnius has risen due to the flight frequency increased to the capital of the neighbouring country by airBaltic.

Notably, in the first half of 2011 the passengers of Riga International Airport travelled predominantly to/from Germany (284 399), the United Kingdom (277 052) and Finland (227 924).

In the six months of this year travellers from Riga International Airport gave their preference to such carriers as airBaltic, Ryanair and WizzAir.

Generally, in the first six months of 2011 Riga International Airport handled almost 14 percent more passengers, 11 percent more aircraft and 9 percent more cargo year on year.   

Information prepared by:

Sarmīte Bunka-Brilijonka

Head of Public Relations

SJSC Riga International Airport

s.bunka-brilijonka@riga-airport.com

GSM: +371 26334727

T: +371 67207694