Elīna Salavu is appointed a member of the Riga City Council :: Dienas Bizness

According to preliminary data, the turnover of SJSC Riga International Airport last year was 29.798 million euros, which is 54.2% less than a year earlier, while the airport’s losses reached 15.51 million euros, compared to the profit in 2019, according to the companies. published information.

The airport’s revenue from aviation services last year amounted to 15 million euros, which is 63% less than planned in the budget. The airport’s revenue from non-aviation services has decreased by 39% to 14.7 million euros.

The company’s losses in 2020 were lower than forecast at the beginning of the crisis last spring. Despite the high share of fixed costs, which cannot be reduced without a significant impact on operations, last year the airport was able to reduce costs by 26% or 15.6 million euros.

Laila Odiņa, the Chairman of the Board of Riga Airport, said that recognizing the importance of the airport to the Latvian economy, the task of the airport last year was not only to provide passenger service in accordance with the highest health safety standards, but also to prepare for future challenges.

“In 2020, the airport worked actively to develop those activities that were less affected by the pandemic – cargo transportation, future business park development, as well as continued the most important infrastructure development projects. We will continue to diversify this year, as the first months of the year show “2021 will probably be even more difficult for the aviation industry than last year. In order to be able to respond to the changing situation, the airport has developed a crisis management plan with action models for various future scenarios,” said Odiņa.

For future development, several investment projects were implemented at Riga Airport last year, including the launch of a new specialized cargo platform, which is the center around which the airport’s cargo city or RIX Cargo City will be developed in the future. The second apron, which is intended for servicing business aircraft, was also expanded, a helipad was built and the pavement on part of the runway and taxiways was restored. In turn, the new high-speed taxiway and platform axle lights will allow the airport to become more environmentally friendly by reducing CO2 emissions. The total amount of investments last year amounted to 13.8 million euros.

Last year, Riga International Airport served 2.011 million passengers, which is 74.2% less than in 2019.

It has already been reported that in March 2021, the European Commission approved Latvia’s plans to allocate up to 39.7 million euros for the recapitalization of Riga Airport. Of the total amount, 35.2 million euros will be allocated to increase the share capital of Riga Airport, and 4.5 million euros – to leave dividends for the profit of 2019 at the company’s disposal.

The share capital of Riga Airport is currently 28.61 million euros, thus it is planned to increase the share capital of the company to 63.81 million euros.

It is also reported that in 2019, Riga Airport had a turnover of 64.987 million and a profit of 22.141 million euros.

Riga International Airport is the largest air traffic hub in the Baltic States.

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