Riga Airport

Riga is a really inconvenient and stressful airport. Gate infrormation was hard to find and when asked the staff were pretty rude. The most terrible aspect though were the gate monitors which spin meaningless animations instead of flight information. If you are not sure about your gate you need to look at the monitors of which the closest with actual the information is 400 meters from the departure gates - it makes zero sense to me.

When coming to this airport, one needs to be aware of that there is no customer service and no smiles from the staff to be seen. Security officers are rude and speak insufficent English. The only plus is that it is fast and there are no queues, but there are no tables before and guidance is really poor. There were enough seats and toilets, signs are clear enough. There are enough options for shopping and lots of local products. All the places were clean and clear. Bus driver was also very rude but that was a surprise.

An early morning departure, was painless and there were no queues at any point despite the increased security levels. Check in opened on time and was quick and efficient. Security was painless and as a seasoned traveller I always try to make life easy for myself and the staff. The departure gate was well arranged and boarding was quick and the aircraft was near to the departure gate. A good selection of duty free and more seemed to open up has time became nearer to 6am. My only comments is I wish the check in and gate staff would smile.

Very efficient airport, with quick security checks and clean facilities let down by rude and inept departure gate staff! They seem unable to arrange a queueing system that actually helps passenger flow, instead they installed movable barriers only when the lounge was full of passengers waiting for Stansted and Dublin flights. Result? Complete chaos made worse by staff at the last minute randomly picking on passengers forcing some to put cabin luggage in the hold 'because the flight was full'. Yet I witnessed numerous examples of oversized cabin luggage being allowed through but one poor guy was picked on and told his bag was too big and he would have to pay €50. His bag was no bigger than others that the same staff member was allowing through. Overall, a good airport let down by poor customer service and badly trained and managed staff.

I have used Riga airport many times over the past 10 years and have seen the airport grow in size and in the number of airlines which now use the airport. The airport is currently building a new 2nd terminal and there are some alterations to where aircraft are parked, it can mean a very slight delay in deplaning and getting to the terminal buildings. However once inside passport control and baggage collection for inbound flights is still and slick operation with an average time 30 minutes from landing to been outside and on the way into Riga. Flying out from Riga is totally painless and smooth. Before security, there is a good choice of restaurant's with a TGIFs and Lido, which between them offer a mix of Latvian and International dishes. Security is painless and very efficient with little or no queues, we were travelling at lunchtime on a Sunday which is a peak time and it took us 10 minutes to clear the security process. Airside there is a good mix of shops and also food and drink outlets. I am sure Riga is hoping to become a hub for the Baltic States given new terminal and the talk of a rail link into Riga. The taxi fare is the region of 11-15 euro depending where you are going in Riga.

I had low expectations but was pleasantly surprised. The airport is spacious, clean, and attractive. Security was very quick and there was plenty of shopping options and seating. They are renovating extensively so we had a long bus ride to our plane.

Could be a nice cosy Airport however its main problem seems to be the staff. Security checks are extremely slow and time consuming they won't open more than 2 checkpoints even if people have to line up for 1/2 hour and would miss their flight due to slow security checks. security staff is unfriendly and refuses to speak English. It can also happen that you have to spend 15 min or more inside the plane after landing as no staff is available to operate passenger bridge. Screens are incredibly small and do not really help you to receive required information about your flights.

Flew back from Riga last night. Didn't arrive at the airport due to our flight being diverted to Kaunas Lithuania. However outbound the service was extremely poor. Staff were rude and the operations implemented at Riga airport were terrible. Coffee shop staff were useless and the departure lounge was severely overcrowded. It was also extremely hot in there. Wouldn't recommend.

Mixed feelings. We went to Riga for a short city trip. Arrival at Riga airport was no problem luggage handling went very quick so we were satisfied with the service. Unfortunately the departure one week later was a horrible experience. After our in time arrival at the airport the electronic check-in devices did not work properly. The staff helped some passengers and refused to help some others in a completely arbitrary manner. We were sent back to the enormous waiting row for normal check-in. Time became short but the staff assured us there would be no problem to catch our flight in due time. For the control of documents before entering security checkpoint only 1 (one) lane was open for the big crowd. And the rows became longer and longer. We asked information to staff members who seemed to be totally uninformed job students note able to deal with the problems. 10 minutes after the start of the boarding of our flight we (and a lot of other travelers) decided to switch through the priority lane: first we were allowed then a staff member tried to send us back in a rude and impolite manner which we refused to do (one older women in front of us already started crying). The lady who already refused to help us before even had the courage to laugh us in the face while passing by. The checking of documents went very inefficiently also in the priority lane. We managed to get through 10 minutes before departure time made a run at the gate and were lucky enough to catch our flight to Brussels just in time. I understand that in a small airport handling a big crowd of departing passengers is a challenge but I'm convinced that here a more better handling would not only have been adequate but also possible with a more efficient organisation and a more professional attitude of some staff members. Worst experience ever in an international airport.

The airport is not too big so that it has short ways from check-in to boarding. Check-In is possible at self service kiosks to avoid waiting times. The Restaurant and Cafe in the public area is cheap and offers a wide choice of good foods. No long waiting lines at the security checks. There are different shops and restaurants/cafes in the security area with a wide choice. The Duty free shops have a great choice of goods and good prices.