The number of passengers served at Riga Airport has decreased by almost 70% in nine months / Article / LSM.lv

At Riga International Airport in the first nine months of this year 1.8 million passengers were served – about a third of last year’s passenger volume, according to operational data on the airport’s performance. Compared to the first nine months of last year, the number of passengers at Riga Airport has decreased by 69.6%.

The airport informs the media that in September Riga Airport served 113,600 passengers – 77,000 fewer passengers than in August. Compared to September 2019, the number of passengers has decreased by 85%.

“Although in September it was possible to travel from Riga Airport to 51 destinations – two destinations more than in August, most of the destinations were located in a high-risk area, from which passengers had to be self-contained when returning. This significantly reduced flight capacity,” Chairman Laila Odiņa.

The average aircraft load factor was 31% in September, significantly less than in August, when the load factor reached 57%.

The most popular destinations at Riga Airport in September were London, Oslo, Tallinn, Helsinki and Frankfurt, but the busiest aircraft went to Tbilisi, Cyprus and Manchester. The share of transfer passengers at Riga Airport remained high – travelers who used Riga Airport as a transfer point to further destinations accounted for 27% of the total number of passengers.

The majority or 60% of passengers served in September were carried by the national airline airBaltic, 18% by the Irish low-cost airline Ryanair and 9% by the Hungarian low-cost carrier WizzAir.

In September, the airport operated 3,332 flights – almost 60% less than in September of the previous year.

On the other hand, the number of flights has decreased by 56.3% and a total of 28,945 flights have taken place.

Most – 2368 flights at Riga Airport were performed by regular passenger carriers, 437 were business aviation flights, but 240 flights were performed by cargo carriers.

In September, 2148 tons of cargo were handled at Riga Airport – 6% more than in September 2019. In total, in the first nine months of 2020, more than 16,000 tons of cargo were handled at Riga Airport.

CONTEXT:

The tourism, aviation and catering industry in Latvia has also been significantly affected by the spread of Covid-19 infection. It was limited to 10 June in Latvia an emergency situation has been identified, during which a number of restrictions and prohibitions were in force, including for assembly a international passenger services.

Riga Airport also suffered in the Covid-19 crisis suspended investment a reduced the number of employees. The government later decided to support airport emergencies circumstances for a total amount of EUR 54.42 million, by increasing the share capital of the company and canceling the dividend payment for the previous year.

From May 15, it was decided to allow the population free movement in the Baltic States, creating the so-called Baltic bubble. Following the emergency, international passenger transport resumed on a larger scale, under the conditions of the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (SPCC).

Riga Airport closed the first six months of 2020 with 6.5 million euros in losses.

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