Arrival of Ryanair – an important catalyst of air traffic market development

30/10/2009

Five years ago, on 31 October 2004, the Irish low fares airline Ryanair commenced flights from RIGA International Airport to Tampere (Finland), London/Stansted and Stockholm/Skavsta.

In five years Ryanair from RIGA International Airport has carried 3.5 million passengers. Year by year, the airline has steadily increased passenger traffic by means of its pricing policy and growing number of destinations and flights. Currently Ryanair is the second biggest carrier at RIGA Airport with a 21.7 percent market share.

Ryanair passenger traffic at RIGA International Airport:

2009* - data for nine months
„ Commencement of regular Ryanair flights to Riga in the autumn of 2004 was an excellent catalyst accelerating the development of RIGA International Airport. For the people of Latvia and the Baltic it was the turning point in perception of air travel as an expensive luxury. Arrival of Ryanair in our market broke this stereotype and opened completely new opportunities of convenient travel for vast numbers of the population at affordable prices," said Krišjānis Peters, Chairman of the Board of RIGA International Airport .

To date Ryanair from RIGA International Airport carries passengers to 12 direct destinations: Stockholm (Skavsta), Dusseldorf (Niederrhein), London (Stansted), Liverpool, Dublin, Brussels (Charleroi), Tampere, Glasgow (Prestwick), East Midlands, Frankfurt (Hahn), Bremen and Milan (Bergamo).

The press conference dedicated to the five year anniversary of cooperation was attended by H.E. Brendan McMahon, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Ireland to Latvia, Krišjānis Peters, Chairman of the Board of RIGA International Airport, and Laszlo Tamas, Ryanair Sales & Marketing Manager UK & Ireland and CEE.


RIGA International Airport is the hub of aviation traffic of the Baltic states. In the nine months of 2009 the airport has welcomed 3 066 326 passengers or 9.6 percent more than in the same period of 2008. RIGA International Airport offers flights to 69 direct destinations, of which in the wither season of 2009/2010 flights to 61 direct destinations will be operated by 12 airlines.