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Jun 14, 2019 (newstodate): Riga Airport is looking for continued growth as a Northern Gateway- but where are the potentials?
At yesterday's RAF2019 conference in Riga, Ilona Lice, Riga Airport Chairman of the Board, noted that Riga Airport is facing stiff competition and has reached the ceiling as to the potentials to be tapped within a Baltic market context.
-We want to see Riga develop into a Northern Hub, meaning that growth must come within a market concept comprising not only the Baltic region, but also a Nordic and a North European context, said Ms Lice.
-This will require efforts on several projects, including finding new airline partners within passenger and cargo air transportation.
-Today, 28 percent of the airport's passenger volumes are in transfer/transit, with airBaltic accounting for 54.3 percent of the total passenger volume.
-What is needed is long-haul traffic at Riga - but airBaltic is not to enter this market, Ms Lice said.
Elaborating on the issue, Arturs Kokars, Advisor to the Riga Airport Board, pointed out that the airport would like to see flights to destinations such as New York and Delhi, and this would require new efforts to be realized.
-We need to promote the airport to new air carriers to establish Riga Airport as a viable alternative in the long-haul traffic.
-The role of airBaltic that today sees half of its passengers in transfer/transit would then be to provide connectivity between Latvia and European destinations for onward flight opportunities, Mr Kokars said.
At yesterday's RAF2019 conference in Riga, Ilona Lice, Riga Airport Chairman of the Board, noted that Riga Airport is facing stiff competition and has reached the ceiling as to the potentials to be tapped within a Baltic market context.
-We want to see Riga develop into a Northern Hub, meaning that growth must come within a market concept comprising not only the Baltic region, but also a Nordic and a North European context, said Ms Lice.
-This will require efforts on several projects, including finding new airline partners within passenger and cargo air transportation.
-Today, 28 percent of the airport's passenger volumes are in transfer/transit, with airBaltic accounting for 54.3 percent of the total passenger volume.
-What is needed is long-haul traffic at Riga - but airBaltic is not to enter this market, Ms Lice said.
Elaborating on the issue, Arturs Kokars, Advisor to the Riga Airport Board, pointed out that the airport would like to see flights to destinations such as New York and Delhi, and this would require new efforts to be realized.
-We need to promote the airport to new air carriers to establish Riga Airport as a viable alternative in the long-haul traffic.
-The role of airBaltic that today sees half of its passengers in transfer/transit would then be to provide connectivity between Latvia and European destinations for onward flight opportunities, Mr Kokars said.