Ryanair to open Riga, Latvia base in 4Q21

Ryanair (FR, Dublin Int’l) will base two aircraft in Riga from October 2021, resulting in 16 new international routes across Europe for the Latvian capital. In total, Ryanair will plough USD200 million into the base which will operate 30 routes from Riga representing 95 departures per week. It will create 60 direct jobs while contributing to the economic recovery of the region, the airline said in a statement. The new services will be a significant boost to Ryanair’s capacity at Riga, which currently sits at 3.66% out of the current 20,868 weekly passenger seats at the airport, according to the ch-aviation capacities module. The Irish low-cost carrier will be competing with airBaltic (BT, Riga) on at least eight of the new routes, namely Budapest, Frankfurt, Gothenburg, Lviv, Paris, Rome, Venice, and Warsaw, according to the ch-aviation schedules module. The Latvian carrier holds the lion share of more than 81.3% of the total weekly seat capacity at Riga, the ch-aviation capacities shows. “This is a significant announcement for the Ryanair Group and a great boost for Buzz (RR, Warsaw Modlin) in Latvia with the creation of these 60 jobs,” commented Ryanair’s Commercial Director, Jason McGuinness. He said the airline had worked closely with Riga airport to secure this growth. “At a time when other airlines are reducing their workforce, we’re delighted to be making further investments in both our people and in airports throughout Europe and look forward to commencing the recruitment for these roles very soon,” he said.