Riga International Airport

Updated on Oct 24, 2023

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Airport type Public Location Mārupe municipality Website riga-airport.com Elevation 10 m Owner Government of Latvia		Operator TAV Airports Elevation AMSL 36 ft / 11 m Code RIX Phone +371 29 311 187 Serves Riga

Hub for airBaltic Norwegian Air Shuttle Primera Air SmartLynx Airlines Wizz Air Address Mārupe, Mārupes novads, LV-1053, Latvia

Riga International Airport (Latvian: Starptautiskā lidosta "Rīga"; IATA: RIX, ICAO: EVRA) is the international airport of Riga, the capital of Latvia, and the largest airport in the Baltic states with direct flights to over 90 destinations in 30 countries. It serves as a hub for airBaltic, SmartLynx Airlines, RAF-Avia, Vip Avia and Inversija and as one of the base airports for Wizz Air. Latvian national carrier airBaltic is the biggest in the airport, followed by Ryanair.

The airport is located in the Mārupe municipality 5.4 NM (10.0 km; 6.2 mi) west of Riga and 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.

Modernisation of riga international airport

History

The airport was built in 1973 as an alternative to Spilve Airport, which had become outdated.

Renovation and modernization of the airport was completed in 2001, coinciding with the 800th anniversary of the founding of the city. In 2006 and 2016, the new north terminal extensions were opened. The airport has three terminals: A & B for Schengen and C for both Schengen and non-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 airport has ILS CAT II.

The airport is owned by the Republic of Latvia via the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Latvia.

Airlines and destinations

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

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, Germany, Russia and Belarus.

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.

Other facilities

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

The Latvian Civil Aviation Agency also has its head office at Riga Airport.

Incidents and accidents

On 17 September 2016 an airBaltic Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 NextGen aircraft made an emergency landing on the runway of Riga International Airport without its nose landing gear deployed. The plane was carrying 63 passengers and 4 crewmembers and was forced to return to Riga International Airport 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 plane was carrying 40 passengers and 7 crew members. No injuries were reported. Aircraft's engine was damaged as it hit airport equipment. The runway was checked and closed for three hours after incident. Flights were diverted to Tallinn Airport and Kaunas Airport and others were delayed. The Transport Accident and Incident Investigation Bureau of Latvia started an investigation.

References

Riga International Airport Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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