From Wednesday, 16 September, those Riga Airport passengers who travel to countries outside the Schengen Area will have access to new boarding gates and spacious lounges.
In the framework of the 5th development stage of Riga Airport terminal, the first phase of construction works has been accomplished resulting in an expanded non-Schengen area, three new boarding gates and more space for arriving passengers, which is a considerable improvement on the airport service quality.
“Over the last years, substantial investments have been made into the development of the airport, which is a contribution to stronger competitiveness of the Latvian economy. Caring for the safety of the air travel, we have built appropriate infrastructure improving the environment and increasing the airport’s capacity and expanded the terminal to make it more comfortable for the passengers with better quality of our services,” said Andris Liepiņš, Chairman of the Board of Riga International Airport.
The construction works were performed by SIA „Skonto Būve”, building inspection was conducted by the general partnership “Būvalts P.M.G.”, and the authors of the construction design are SIA „Arhis Arhitekti”.
To date, an open tender procedure has been announced for the second construction phase of the terminal development. When the construction of the new pier is finished, there will be 19 new boarding gates, three airbridges, new commercial areas and spacious and comfortable passenger lounges, greatly boosting the airport capacity. The second phase of the construction works is scheduled to be finished by the autumn of 2016.
It should be remembered that the current capacity of the terminal allows providing quality services to 3.5 million passengers per year, while the estimated number of passengers to be handled by the airport per year already is expected to reach five million. At this level and with the anticipated further growth, the airport had to be enlarged in order to provide adequate handling to airlines and comfort and quality services to passengers.
The expansion of the terminal is crucial for the improvement of the competitiveness of SJSC Riga International Airport in Europe in general and among the Eastern European and Scandinavian countries in particular. The expansion is also an essential precondition for attracting of new carriers and launching of their operations at Riga Airport as well as for boosting of the business of the airlines currently working at the airport, and thus facilitating the development of Riga Airport as the leading airport in the Baltics.