Riga International Airport - Plans

Plans

The Latvian government also plans to build another terminal capable of handling 20 million passengers a year. The first part of this project began in 2008. The airport also planned to build new hotels, a business park, a second pier, new parking, a second runway, a new control tower, a new high-speed tram link or railway to the city centre, and a new check-in hall. The airport is currently soliciting bids for airport expansion that encompasses, as the first stage, a construction of a new (fourth) terminal with 23 gates facing north, and in the second stage, seamlessly joining the current airport terminals with the new terminal in a unified architectural entity.

As the Latvian government may be backing out of the state financed plan to build the 20 million passenger capable terminal, airBaltic is now in the planning stage to, by 2014, build a second terminal, capable of servicing 40 planes and 5000 passengers per hour, that is equivalent to approximately 7.5 million passengers per year, for its own exclusive use, located right next to the current terminal, while leaving the current terminal (planned capacity of 2.5 million passengers per year, but easily capable of handling twice more at good service levels) for all other airlines to use. There will be also an additional entry/exit built to/from the runway, in order to minimize delays and maximize the airport capacity, as it is expected to hit over 10 million/year passengers combined handling by 2014. The airport has ILS CAT I.