Friday, 5 June 2015

Latvia: The Riga International Airport

Latvia is the country in Baltic Region of Northern Europe, bordered with Estonia, Lithuania, Belarus and Russian Federation. Sweden also lies in the west of Baltic Sea, making Latvia a central point in Baltic States. The capital city of Latvia is Riga, which is also famous as tourist destination and world Heritage Site. There are thousands of attractions in Latvia to see and admire but let’s save it for another time. For now, let’s talk about the grand and legendary airport of Latvia, located in capital city Riga.

Riga has been popular due to its architectural and beautiful sites in Europe that mainly includes the Old Town, A World Heritage Site. Following this style of the architect. The International Airport of Riga has also had the same traditional construction style that manifest the insight of art and architecture of the city. Riga International Airport is the largest airport in the country, not in size but in respect of direct flights in Baltic States.

The Airport deals with 80 direct flight in 30 different countries, making it the busiest airport in the country. The well-reputed airlines named as, airBaltic, SmartLynx Airlines, RAF-Avia, VIP Avia, Wizz Air and Inversija are serving this airport for years, creating this airport a hub of international airlines. The location of the airport is Marupe municipality, 10 km west of Riga, which is own by a Joint-Stock company and Government of Latvia keeps all of its shares.

As per the actual statistics of 2014, the airport has the capacity of handling 4,814,073 passengers annually. The airport has also wielded 32, 894 tons of cargo till 2014. In the book of history, the airport was built to replace the Spilve Airport, which later became closed. This airport has come across from many renovations and modernizations that finally completed in 2001. The airport has three terminals, A and C for non-Schengen and B for Schengen departures. Amidst them, a north terminal has got a new extension in 2006. With the help of two local companies, a joint venture was opened to look after the maintenance, repair and rejuvenate of the airport in 2006.

The Riga International Airport has ground transportation facility for its revered passengers to provide them pick & drop and airport transfer services. A bus # 22 is being operated by Rigas Satiksme runs between Riga city centers and airport, is used to access the airport. A shuttle bus service is also being operated by airBaltic for passengers to travel between airport and hotel. Moreover, international bus connection is also available from the airport to bordering cities countries like Estonia, Poland, Germany, Russia, etc. The information about this bus service can easily find from airport information center. However, you can easily book for Riga airport transfers online, for safe and affordable transportation.
Altogether, Riga International Airport is the symbol of Latvia’s state-of-art and culture, holding the flag of distinguished travel services in the region. So if you are heading towards Latvia, I am certain that you will have your lifetime experience while traveling through Riga’s Airport.