In fall 2016 the Liepāja airport was the first air traffic hub to undergo certification according to the new EU rules.
According to Agris Sprūde, board member at Aviosabiedrība Liepāja, the exact number of employees will depend on the traffic volume at the airport; however he said about 50 to 70 will be hired.
The employees will be trained in Rīga and Liepāja. The airport is planning on cooperating with airBaltic, the country's national airline.
"We've started talks with airBaltic, and have met several times [..] technical details are being planned over the solution. We're talking first of all about flights from Liepāja to Rīga and Rīga to Liepāja," said Liepāja vice-mayor Gunārs Ansiņš.
As of now the airport is certified for summertime flights but is likely to be made annual.
It is hoped that the air traffic hub will provide a boost to the local economy.
"I remember when we started flights in 2008 several companies picked Liepāja, and one of the reasons was the airport. For example, [as was the case with] the Baltic IT company that is operating in Liepāja even now," said Ansiņš.
The airport will open in April but flights are expected to start in May, together with the tourism season.
Liepāja is the third-largest city in Latvia, after Rīga and Daugavpils.
