✈️ Riga Airport unveils 2050 plan aiming for 10.5 million passengers by 2030
Riga International Airport plans to handle 10.5 million passengers by 2030, up from 7.1 million expected this year, CEO Laila Odina said at the launch of the 2025–2050 development plan.
The plan includes runway and taxiway upgrades, a southern pier, a modern de-icing area, and new access roads integrated with Rail Baltica. Total investments are estimated at €800 million, funded through EU grants and financial institutions.
Context:
Riga Airport’s new 25-year plan comes amid stagnating recovery in air traffic. Passenger numbers reached 7.12 million in 2024 — still about 9 percent below 2019 levels — while cargo volumes remain down by nearly a third. The expected Rail Baltica link could later strengthen multimodal transport, but its completion in Latvia has slipped beyond 2030. For now, growth depends less on infrastructure planning than on the broader regional security outlook and restoration of transit flows disrupted since 2022.