Most active travelers are familiar with the international airport code RIX, which designates the Riga airport terminal. It is the main location of the Latvian airline AirBaltic, which began operations in 1995. Last but not least, thanks to this airline, the international airport in Riga has become one of the most important transfer hubs in the Baltic. It is also interesting that today the airport has an aviation museum, where you can get acquainted with the historical models of aircraft that have ever landed in airborne.
Airport History
The predecessor of the modern Riga airport was Spilve airfield, built at the very beginning of the First World War. However, by the end of the sixties it became obvious that it was out of date, despite numerous modernizations, which means that there was a need to build a new airport terminal that could meet the safety requirements of the new era of mass air transportation.
The new Riga Airport (RIX) was opened in 1973 in the immediate vicinity of the village of Skulte. Already in Soviet times, the airport was the largest among others in the Baltic Soviet republics. However, in the mid-nineties, after Latvia gained independence, there was a need for its modernization.
After independence
The plan for the total reconstruction of the airport was approved in the mid-1990s, but modernization was completed only in 2001. At the same time, the construction of the southern terminal was completed, which allowed increasing the number of daily flights and, consequently, the number of airlines flying through Riga Airport (RIX).
It is worth noting that the modernization was a success, and in 2005 at the International Airport Council recognized the Riga air harbor as the best in Europe among the airports, with passenger traffic from one to five million people.
Airport reconstruction
International recognition encouraged the Riga Airport Administration (RIX) to make efforts to develop airfield infrastructure, and in 2008 the runway was lengthened, which allowed to increase the range of accepted aircraft. It is noteworthy that the modernization cost the investor almost 24 million euros.
A year after the completion of the next reconstruction, the airport was included in the international rating of the hundred best airports in the world, although it occupied only ninety-eighth line. New technical characteristics of the runway of Riga International Airport have allowed to increase the number of passengers by 10% annually since 2010.
Directions and companies
The airport code, RIX, is assigned to it by the International Air Transport Association, headquartered in Montreal, Canada. This organization coordinates international safety and logistics.
The airport is a hub for major airlines such as AirBaltic, WizzAir and SmartLynx Airlines, which allows it to have an extremely wide geography of flights connecting cities - from Reykjavik to Sharm El Sheikh.
A total of seventeen airlines fly to Riga Airport. This set of carriers allows passengers to choose the level of service, prices for airline tickets and a variety of destinations for the rest.
Ryanair’s participation in the transportation allows you to get to almost all important cities in Europe and Morocco at the lowest prices, as this company is the largest low-cost carrier in the European Union.
Riga - Moscow. Weekend trip
It is impossible to overestimate the significance of Riga Airport for Russians. Firstly, a large number of Russians have a residence permit in this Baltic country. Secondly, Riga is an important international hub and with a short connection at the Riga airport you can get to any European capital. Thirdly, over the past decade, Riga has become a popular holiday destination for the weekend.
The extreme popularity of Latvia among Russians is also confirmed by the schedule of flights from Moscow airports on the route Riga - Moscow. In total, the number of daily direct flights reaches thirty on ordinary days. In high season and holiday dates the number of flights increases.
In addition to the Latvian airline AirBaltic, two Russian air carriers operate flights to the Riga airport. Utair Airlines flies from Moscow Vnukovo Airport , and Aeroflot from Sheremetyevo. Such a number of flights and the popularity of the destination itself made the international airport code RIX one of the most recognizable aviation brands in the post-Soviet space.