The launch of nonstop flights from Latvia to the United States is limited by the fact that there is a lack of suitable airplanes for that purpose, the board chairwoman of the Riga Airport, Laila Odina, told the LETA news agency in an interview.
Odina said that this is a universal problem in that most US carriers do not have sufficient aircraft for flights to Riga.
A new generation of Airbus A321XLR-series narrow-body planes can cover the distance between New York and Riga without needing to land. It is already on the market, but only some carriers have received the new planes so far.
Once more of such aircraft become available, Odina added, nonstop flights from Riga could be considered. She pointed out that at this time, airlines with aircraft meant for large numbers of passengers are not even considering flights to the Latvian capital city.
Asked whether any airline has recently established a hub in Riga, Odina replied that the Norse airline from Norway has done so at the airport, but for the time being it mostly handles administrative functions. There have been no discussions about moving planes to Riga and flying from there.
“I think we’re going to have talks with the airline in future about having more than just administrative staff based here,” Odina says. “Norse has aircraft which could be used for intercontinental flights to America, and we are working very hard on this.”
The Riga Airport handled 7.12 million passengers last year, which was 7.4% more than in 2023, while the number of passengers handled at the airport last year was 8.7% lower compared to the pre-Covid period in 2019.
The Riga Airport is the largest air traffic hub in the Baltic States.
Source: BNS
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