Riga airport expands transit zone

Transit flights make up 27% of Riga's total passenger traffic (Photo by Avio2016 // Wikipedia)

The airport at Riga, the Latvian capital, has opened a new transit passenger segment at the northern part of the terminal. The airport’s existing capacity is up to 3.5 million direct passengers in a year. The new segment will enable to increase it up to 10 million passengers in a year.

The new two-storey terminal takes up an area of 9,828 square meters and is equipped with 19 gates and three jet bridges. There are new parking spaces for aircraft as well as refueling stations for long-range flights. As was earlier announced, the addition to the airport should allow for quicker servicing of Boeing 777, 747, and Airbus A350 models.

The total cost of the new project has been set at 26 million euros, and is part of the airport development effort. Further projects include the expansion of the registration and baggage claim areas, as well as the addition of security checkpoints.

In 2015, Riga airport served 5.162 million passengers, an increase of 7.2% over last year’s figure. The airport carried 4.614 million passengers in the first ten months of this year, an increase of 4.9%. The share of transit passengers in 2014 was 29%, while in 2015, it was 24.7%. The number is estimated at 27% in 2016.

Flights from Riga travel to over 60 destinations, including New York.