Passenger and cargo figures of Riga International Airport continued to grow also during the first month of the autumn season. The operational performance data show that in the first ten months of 2017, as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, the number of passengers went up by 12%, and the volume of cargo - by more than one fifth.
During the first ten months of 2017, Riga Airport handled 5.16 million passengers, which is 11.9% more than in the corresponding period of the previous year, and the cargo volumes grew by 21.2% reaching 19 858 tons.
In October, Riga Airport handled 553.6 thousand passengers, which is 16% more than in October 2016. As compared to last October, cargo volumes went up by 59.3%.
“The passenger and cargo forecast for the remaining months of this year provides justified expectation that Riga Airport will conclude the year 2017 with new records in both passenger traffic, and especially in the cargo segment. The performance of the national airline airBaltic has been very convincing - the carrier is increasing its passenger numbers and is significantly outpacing its forecasts, thus also contributing to the growth of Riga Airport,” says Ilona Līce, Chairperson of the Board of Riga International Airport.
In the first ten months of 2017, the number of flights handled at Riga Airport increased by 8.9%, servicing a total of 62 702 aircraft. In October, 6 806 aircraft were handled at Riga Airport - 11.6% more than in last October.
As reported before, this winter flight season 74 destinations are available to passengers travelling from Riga Airport. A total of 17 passenger carriers operate flights from Riga Airport: airBaltic, Ryanair, WizzAir, Aeroflot, SAS, Finnair, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Lufthansa, LOT Polish Airlines, Utair, Turkish Airlines, Ukraine International Airlines, RusLine, Uzbekistan Airways, Belavia, Ellinair and Smartlynx Airlines.
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 almost 90 in the summer season. In 2016, Riga Airport handled over 5.4 million passengers - nearly 45% of the entire Baltic air passenger traffic.