Riga International Airport reports having serviced 5.38 million passengers in 2022. This is nearly 2.3 times more when compared with the year prior, when the number of serviced passengers reached 2.35 million.
The passenger number growth indicates that the airport has largely recovered after the pandemic, similarly to other European airports.
Recovery rates were mainly affected by the drop in the transfer passengers segment,
which was caused not only by restrictions imposed during the pandemic, Russian-Ukrainian war and global sanctions related to the conflict.
Last year the number of direct passengers reached 80% of the pre-pandemic period. The number of passengers who use Riga as a transfer airport was slashed by more than half in 2022 when compared with the pre-pandemic period (2.4 million transit passengers in 2019, 1 million in 2022). Last year the proportion of transfer passengers serviced at Riga International Airport was 19%.
In 2022 there was also a 40% increase in the number of aircraft at the airport when compared with 2021. A total of 54 818 flights were serviced at the airport. Of these flights 48 427 were passenger flights – 69% more when compared with 2021, when 28 694 passenger flights were serviced.
In December 2022 Riga airport services were used by 459 000 passengers or 51% more when compared with December 2021. The number of serviced passenger flights increased by 10% and reached 4 117 aircraft in December. Flight booking increased by 70%, which indicates that the energy resource price increase and general price increase did not have a major effect on passengers’ purchasing power or will to travel.
This year Riga International Airport plans to service 6.3 million passengers,
which, when compared with 2022, will be an increase of 16%. The latest international outlooks indicate that the industry may be able to recover its pre-pandemic period’s results a year later than previously planned – in 2025.
Also read: Riga International Airport still has not recovered pre-pandemic passenger numbers