Riga Airport handles 434.3 thousand passengers in November

This November, 434.3 thousand passengers were handled at Riga Airport, which is the best indicator as compared to the same period of time before the pandemic: preliminary data on Airport performance show that the number of passengers this November differs by only one fifth from November 2019.

Laila Odiņa, Chairperson of the Board of Riga Airport, commented: “For several months in a row, the number of direct passengers differs from the pre-pandemic indicators by as little as 10 percent. Although due to the war caused by Russia, it has not been possible to provide transit passenger service in Riga in the planned volume, the stable indicators of the number of direct passengers indicate a positive overall recovery trend after the Covid-19 pandemic." 

The first month of the winter schedule has started positively, despite the fact that traditionally a greater drop in the number of flights can be observed in November. The fact that aircraft occupancy exceeds 70 percent also shows the willingness of the people to travel. The warm destinations and flights to Great Britain remain the most popular.

Since the beginning of the year, the Airport has handled 4.9 million passengers, which is 140 % more than a year before (January – November 2021: 2.05 mln). The number of flights operated since the beginning of the year also increased by 46 % as compared to previous year: more than 50 000 aircraft were handled in January – November this year as compared to 34 000 a year before.

In November, 1 746 tonnes of air cargo were handled, with the total volume of air cargo handled in the eleven months of this year reaching 19 169 tonnes. Although the total volume of cargo handled in January – November due to the global sanctions against Russia is one-fifth behind the figures of 2021 (24 139 tonnes in the eleven months of 2021), the volume of cargo carried by passenger aircraft has increased by almost a quarter this year with cargo owners looking for new cargo routes and opportunities (8 692 tonnes this year, 7 012 tonnes last year).