Riga Airport Included in TOP5 Fastest Growing Airports of Europe

21/06/2018

This April, Riga International Airport was one of the five fastest growing airports in Europe in the group of airports with 5-10 million passengers handled, as suggested by the latest Airport Traffic Report of the Airport Council International (ACI).


With the number of passengers increasing by 16.3%, Riga Airport was ranked fifth in TOP5 fastest growing airports of Europe this April, falling behind only such recreation and tourist destinations as Naples, Seville, Kraków and Valencia. Riga Airport is also the fourth fastest growing European capital airport and one of 11 capital airports, in which the number of passengers increased by a two-digit figure this April, as specified in the ACI report.

The increase in the number of passengers at the Riga Airport persisted in May as well: the airport handled 636,000 passengers, which is an increase of 20.5% compared to May of the previous year. In total, Riga Airport handled 2.56 million passengers so far in 2018 — an increase of 19% compared to the year before.

The number of transfer and transit passengers during the first five months of this year has increased by 19.2%, reaching 28% of the total number of passengers. The most popular destinations of Riga Airport during the first five months of the year 2018 were London, Moscow and Helsinki.

“The growth of Riga Airport has been significantly faster than in Europe, where the average increase in the number of passengers in the group of airports with 5-10 million of handled passengers in April amounted to 6.4%, whereas on average in European airports in general — only 5%”, Ilona Līce, Chairperson of the Board of the Riga International Airport, notes. “ACI data suggest that aviation exactly in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia is experiencing the fastest growth in Europe: the fastest growing capital airports include also our Baltic neighbours Tallinn and Vilnius, as well as Warsaw, Helsinki, Gratislav, Budapest and Ljubljana. I am gratified that Riga Airport has successfully joined the competition for passengers of the region and aviation cargo”.

The volume of cargo in Riga Airport during the first five months of the year 2018 has increased by 45.2% compared to the relevant period last year. Riga Airport handled more than 50% of the total amount of cargo transshipped in the Baltic States.

The number of flights handled by Riga Airport during the first five months of this year has increased by 16.2%: the airport handled 32,367 aircraft within this period.

The number of passengers in the airports of the Baltic States in general has increased by 17.2%, reaching 5.9 million passengers this year.


Riga International Airport is the largest air traffic hub in the Baltics. The 20 airlines operating at Riga Airport offer more than 70 destinations in the winter season and 100 destinations in the summer season. In 2017, Riga Airport handled more than 6 million passengers, i.e., 45% of the total number of passengers of the Baltic States.