This winter season, which will start on Sunday, 29 October, travellers will have an opportunity to choose from 74 flight destinations offered from Riga International Airport, and it is the largest route network in the Baltics.
In the winter season, the Airport will also offer three new holiday destinations - Abu Dhabi, Malta and Eilat.
Already on Sunday, 29 October, the first passengers will fly from Riga to Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates. This fascinating destination is offered by the national airline airBaltic in cooperation with Etihad Airways, and flights will be operated four times a week.
On Sunday, the Irish low-cost airline Ryanair will operate its first flight to Malta. Flights to this Mediterranean island will be performed twice weekly. On 31 October, the Hungarian low-cost airline Wizzair will open a new route from Riga to Eilat, a resort town in Israel, also these flights will be operated twice a week.
The national airline airBaltic will continue its domestic service between Riga and Liepaja. According to the airline's data, passengers travelling from Liepaja are increasingly using Riga for transfer flights, most popular of which are Copenhagen, Moscow, London, Stockholm and Berlin. To improve the connecting flight network from Riga, as of 30 October the days of the flights will be changed: morning flights from Liepaja will be performed on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
During the winter season, airBaltic will continue its flights to Geneva, Tampere and Gothenburg, as well as will re-introduce the most favourite skiing destinations - Salzburg, Verona and Poprad in the High Tatra Mountains.
airBaltic will also increase the frequency of flights from Riga to London, Hamburg and Prague. A more convenient schedule for flights to Warsaw will be provided, introducing new morning and evening flights on weekdays.
Also during the winter season, with the direct air service of Uzbekistan Airways, it will be possible to go on a long-haul flight from Riga to New York once a week. The airline will also continue direct flights to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.
A total of 16 carriers will operate flights from Riga Airport in the winter season: 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.
Ilona Lice, Chairperson of the Board of Riga International Airport: “The network of destinations offered from Riga Airport this winter season will allow everyone to find something for them: skiers will have an opportunity to travel to places where there is a plenty of snow, but those who prefer warmer spots will have an opportunity to prolong the summer by travelling to one of the new hot destinations. Business people will appreciate the extensive network of routes, as well as the convenient and fast connections that allow them to get from Riga to any place in the world. The latest operational data confirm the attractiveness of the Airport’s offer: from the beginning of the year until 23 October, Riga International Airport has already handled more than five million passengers - 11.8% more than in 2016.”
The winter schedule will start on 29 October together with the transition to the winter time, when clocks are turned an hour back. To avoid any misunderstandings, passengers are invited to double-check their flight departure times. This can be done by contacting the selected airline, on Riga Airport website riga-airport.com, as well as by calling the Airport information service 1817.
Riga International Airport is the largest air traffic hub in the Baltics. The 16 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.
