Riga Airport

RIX is a small efficient airport. Check in was slow because staff was not familiar with the transit 72 hours visa policy at Beijing airport. She was apologetic for the delay. Security was easy staff are professional and friendly. Finnair use airport lounge it was surprising good good design comfortable and some hot food as well. Boarding was quick but immigration staff are not so friendly at the gate I don't understand why they are there anyway considering we out of EU from Helsinki. It was a not bad airport except immigration staff.

Surprisingly modern although compact airport. Flew CDG-RIX-TLL return. Good duty free easy enough check in and cap on the max price a taxi can charge you (10Lats from the airport to anywhere in the city). Jetways on most gates. Food mostly located groundside although there is a great little pizza place buried out of the way in Concourse A. Also great for entertainment is a free "Tab Bar" loaded with Android tablets which anyone can use as well as charging ports for your airport. Overall a very pleasant surprise.

On departure AirBaltic desks do have huge queues but they move quite quickly and are getting better as people use machine check-ins more. Modern duty frees have opened and several food outlets airside. Most flights have jetties. On arrival there are three options for getting to the city - taxi (about EUR 15); AirBaltic minibus which stops at all the major hotels (EUR 5 per person); ordinary bus (about EUR 1 per person). Modern clean and efficient airport with free wifi throughout.

Riga International requires a new terminal as it has become very busy over the last 2-3 years. Apart from the long queues during the busiest hours generally it is very good. Catering ok (however quite expensive) organization and signs are good facilities well maintained and clean. Electronic check-in and baggage drop zones have been introduced however Check-in desks are still overcrowded.

Riga is the busiest airport in the Baltic states. Close to the city centre. Good connections to other regional airports in the neighbouring countries. More flights then any other airport in the Baltics. Fairly efficient. Check-in desks and security checks can get crowded and slow. An excellent Latvian food chain Lido restaurant is available before security checks only. Latvian goods in general are cheaper in town. Business lounge is owned by Air Baltic and available to business class passengers only i.e. there is no access to those travelling economy and paying an access fee to gain entry as for example Servisair Lounges.

Riga airport wasn't designed for so many passengers so it can be overflowing with people and a definite lack of adequate seating especially during busy times. A larger terminal is needed! Riga Airport is close to the city and Bus #22 takes you there for just 0.70Lats (paying the driver) or 0.50Lats (using pre-paid cards available from newstands). There is also an Airport Express run by Air Baltic that costs 3.00Lats.

It is clean pleasant and shops and food outlets (Lido and Fridays) are reasonably priced. Staff were friendly and helpful. This seemed to be the general case with Latvian people. Be warned that the food outlets are before security not airside. The duty free shops are airside. Compared to other airports in Europe Riga airport is a small airport. To get to Riga centre you need to take bus 22. It takes about 20 - 30 mins and tickets cost 40lv. (about £0.50) Tickets are sold on the bus by a conductor.

The airport is a modern and comfortable building with generous seating . Although arriving with a morning flight and departing with an evening one security check and passport control went quite fast. The easiest way to reach the city centre is to take Bus no. 22 which connects the airport to Riga's cathedral (near Reval Hotel Latvija) and costs 030 LVL one-way. I think there is a bus every 30min but allow at least 40-60 min to reach the city as Riga's streets seem to be chronically congested.

I have been travelling though Riga airport for the past 3 years and feel that the airport has now made a very wrong decision in its opening of the new 3rd rate terminal (Terminal C)to handle the so called cheap flight operators such has Ryanair. On Saturday evening myself and my wife travelled to London on ticket which nearly cost the same as Air Baltic tickets the check in staff who dealt with us never smiled and did not give us our Priority Boarding Cards I had to ask at the office for the cards. I also found out that I could not get my NOVA points in the terminal and I was able to get them at the office when I picked up my boarding cards which should of been given to me at check in. The food in Lido was the worse I had eaten in Latvia and the family members to had given us a lift to the aiport remarked that it was not the normal standard of Lido meals maybe we should of stopped at the main Lido in Riga rather than head for the airport to eat. Lido is a well known name in Latvia and I before have always had a very good meal at the airport but not this time. The tax free shop was staffed by two staff who were more interested in reading or talking to each other or to colleagues for prices were dearer than in down town Riga and in fact somelines had a mark up of nearly 50% compared to Rimini Maxima or Rigas Balsam shop also the shop did not carry any tobacco items.

Decent enough airport although check in desks (I flew with KLM) aren't clearly marked. It's not a shopping centre masquerading as an airport (rather like LHR) but does offer enough services to keep pax happy. Generous seating at the gates a big plus. Does what it says on the tin - which is nice.