Direct flights from Riga to US limited by availability of suitable aircraft - Odina

RIGA - The launch of direct flights from Riga to the United States is limited by the availability of suitable aircraft, Laila Odina, Chairwoman of the Board of Riga Airport, told LETA in an interview.

She pointed out that the problem of aircraft availability is everywhere, including the fact that US carriers do not have enough aircraft suitable for flights to Riga.

At the same time, Odina added that a new generation of Airbus A321XLR series narrow-body aircraft, which can cover, for example, the distance from New York to Riga without landing, is currently on the market, but only some carriers have received these aircraft so far.

She said that once more of these aircraft become available, direct flights from Riga could be considered, as at present airlines with large aircraft for large numbers of passengers do not even consider flights to Riga.

Asked whether any airline has recently opened a base in Riga, Odina said that recently the Norwegian airline Norse opened a base at Riga Airport, but it performs more administrative functions and there have been no talks about the possibility of having planes here and flying from Riga.

"However, I think that we will have talks with this airline in the future about having more than just administrative staff based here, because they have aircraft that are suitable for flights to America and could operate intercontinental flights. We are also working very hard on this," Odina said.

As reported, Riga Airport handled 7.12 million passengers last year, which is 7.4 percent more than in 2023. At the same time, the number of passengers handled at Riga Airport last year was 8.7 percent lower compared to the pre-Christmas period, or 2019.

Riga Airport is the largest air traffic hub in the Baltic states.