In order to limit the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus, a number of airlines have announced changes to their flight schedules to and from Riga Airport.
The Irish low-cost airline Ryanair has informed the Airport that flights to Bergamo Airport in Italy will be cancelled between 29 March and 5 April. Latvian airline SmartLynx has also cancelled charter flights to Bergamo on Saturdays, but Hungarian low-cost airline WizzAir will not operate flights to Eilat in Israel until 23 March.
As reported before, the Latvian national airline airBaltic has also announced changes to its flight schedules for the period up to the end of May. More information is available on the airline's website.
When planning a trip or travelling, the Airport calls on passengers to keep abreast of updates on flight schedules not only from Riga Airport, but also at other airports. Passengers can contact their airline for the most accurate information on changes and actions to take when a scheduled flight is cancelled.
As reported earlier, to take care of the health and well-being of its passengers, already since January Riga Airport has been actively cooperating with the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control of Latvia (SPKC), the Ministry of Health and the Emergency Medical Service. The Airport works according to the guidelines and recommendations of these authorities, and has implemented additional measures to limit the spread of COVID-19.
At the Airport terminal (in baggage reclaim halls C and E, at B7 departure gate, before transit passenger security control, before departure border checkpoint), passengers have access to hand disinfection stands. The Airport has also intensified cleaning and disinfection of both public and staff premises and Airport buses carrying passengers from the terminal to aircraft and vice versa.
Departing and arriving passengers are informed of the precautions to be taken when travelling to the affected areas and what should be done should passengers develop any virus-specific symptoms. There are large-format information banners and SPKC recommendations set up in the terminal. Passengers are encouraged to monitor their health and seek medical advice in the event of any doubt. If after returning from the virus-affected areas while still at the Airport, passengers are experiencing elevated temperature, sore throat, cough or breathing difficulties, they can refer to the Airport’s medical centre located in arrivals E (next to Costa Coffee).
The Airport regularly informs its staff members of the preventive protective measures to be taken (personal hygiene, hand washing and/or disinfection, etc.) and reminds them to carefully evaluate the need to travel to the areas affected by the virus.
The Airport is actively following up-to-date information, and if the SPKC or other Latvian authorities responsible for the spread of the virus decide on additional measures at the Airport, the Airport will act promptly.
Riga Airport is a fast-growing Northern European air traffic hub. The 20 airlines operating at Riga Airport offer more than 70 destinations in the winter season and more than 100 in the summer season. Riga Airport served more than 7.8 million passengers in 2019. The Cirius study recognized Riga Airport as the fourth most punctual airport in the world in 2019.
For more information:
Laura Karnīte
Head of the Communication Unit
SJSC Riga International Airport
GSM: 29 165 007