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Riga Airport hopes to raise passenger numbers with expanded terminal

Xinhua, November 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

Riga International Airport on Monday opened an extension of its passenger terminal, or the so called Northern Pier, which is expected to boost the airport's capacity and make it more attractive and convenient to air passengers, the airport's representatives informed.

According to information available on Riga Airport's website, the two-floor pier building comprises 19 new boarding gates, three air bridges, two new stores, five cafes, playgrounds for children and passenger lounges.

The airport's management hopes the expanded terminal will help boost the airport's passenger turnover by 40 percent in the next coming years.

Riga Airport's commercial director Arturs Saveljevs said on public radio Monday that the share of transit passengers traveling through the airport is expected to grow from the current 27 percent to 30 percent, which is necessary given Latvia's relatively small local population.

The airport's commercial director voiced hope that Riga might become a transport hub connecting the West and the East, but achieving this goal requires opening new routes, for instance, to destinations in CIS countries and China, as well as new airliners capable of performing long-distance flights.

Latvia's airBaltic national carrier is about to obtain such aircraft very soon, he added.

The representative of Riga International Airport also indicated that the airport received 5.16 million air passengers in 2015, but that their number might grow to 5.4 million this year. The airport's expanded area for non-Schengen transit passengers will allow raising annual passenger turnover to 7-10 million people. Endit