Almost 30% of passengers were on transit flights. The most popular destinations from Riga in the first seven months of this year were London, Moscow and Helsinki.
In July this year, the airport received 739,403 passengers, up 14.4% against the respective period a year ago. In July, the airport hit its monthly record – serving more than 700,000 passengers in a month for the first time in the airport’s history.
Cargo handling at the Riga airport increased by almost 31% to 16,300 tons, while the number of flights rose by 14.3% to 47,800 flights in the seven-month period.
In the second quarter of this year the number of passengers rose by 17.4% compared to the respective period last year, ranking Riga Airport in the second place among the top five fastest growing European airports, handling 5-10 million passengers a year.
Riga airport board chairwoman Ilona Lice said that the Riga airport is the only of the Baltic airports that in 2018 has repeatedly recognized as one of the fastest growing European airports.
"The results of the first seven months of this year suggest that almost all airlines working at the Riga airport have seen growth, while Latvian national airline airBaltic is a traditional market leaders, seeing its passengers grow by 20% with its market share being 54.3%," said Lice.
The second largest carrier in Riga was Irish low-cost airline Ryanair, having carried 605,900 passengers in the first seven months of this year or by 10.2% more year-on-year with a 15.2% market share, followed by Hungarian low-cost airline WizzAir with 355,000 passengers or by 21.1% more.
Riga remains the leader among the Baltic airports, serving 44% of all Baltic passengers and 52% of cargo.
Riga International Airport is the largest air traffic hub in the Baltic states. The airport offers flights to more than 60 destinations in the winter season and to nearly 90 destinations in summer, operated by 20 airlines.
In 2017, the Riga airport served over six million passengers or 45% of the total number of air passengers in the three Baltic states.
