Riga Airport

Riga is the airport with the most going on in the Baltics – and the place where you can tick off a whole airline at once. More than half of passengers at RIX fly with airBaltic and its light-green tail, and because the Latvians fly only a single type, the registration becomes the real collectible here. Added to that are Ryanair, Norwegian and a handful of big network airlines, occasionally a freighter or an oddity. The visit does not work entirely without preparation, though: Riga has no observation deck, and the runway lies north–south – the light decides which side you stand on.

From old Spilve to the southwest

For a long time, Riga’s air traffic started from the Spilve airfield in the north of the city, on the other side of the Daugava. For jets and growing passenger numbers, the site was too small and too old in the 1970s. That is why a new airport was built in the early 1970s southwest of the city, on the territory of today’s municipality of Mārupe near the village of Skulte – hence the name you still often read in spotter circles and older sources: Riga-Skulte.

In Soviet times, the airport was a station in the Aeroflot network. With Latvia’s regained independence in the early 1990s, it passed into Latvian ownership. Today it is operated by a state-owned joint-stock company whose shares are held entirely by the state and administered by the Ministry of Transport.

Traffic only really picked up after EU accession in 2004. A significant cut in charges attracted new airlines, airBaltic built up its connecting network – and within a few years passenger numbers tripled. Since then, Riga has been the largest airport of the three Baltic states.

One runway running north–south

Unlike most Central European airports with east–west runways, Riga has a single runway running from north to south: the 18/36, 3,200 meters long and 45 meters wide, equipped with a Category II instrument landing system. The terminal and aprons lie on the east side of the runway; west of it, open country with fields and forest begins quickly.

For your planning, that means: in a north wind, takeoffs and landings are toward the north, that is on 36 – landings then come in from the south over the suburbs. In a south wind everything reverses, and aircraft approach from the north on 18. You can see which direction currently applies in advance in flight tracking or the weather report; how to estimate this properly is explained in the article Understanding runway direction in use at airports.

With only one runway, you miss no movement on a second one, though – everything that comes and goes rolls past you.

airBaltic: one airline, one type, many registrations

Riga cannot be understood without airBaltic. The airline was founded in 1995, operated its first flight in Riga on October 1, 1995, and has had its headquarters right at the airport ever since. From here it builds a connecting network that links the Baltic capitals with many destinations in Europe; Tallinn and Vilnius serve as additional hubs. In 2025, according to traffic statistics, around 57 percent of all passengers in Riga flew with airBaltic.

The fleet is what is exciting for spotters: since 2023, airBaltic has flown exclusively the Airbus A220-300. Riga was the scene of a small piece of aviation history there – in December 2016, airBaltic was the first airline in the world to put the then Bombardier CS300 into scheduled service here. Boeing 737s and the Dash 8-400 turboprops used to shape the picture; the last Dash 8 left the fleet in early 2023.

With a single-type fleet, the registration is the only real distinguishing feature. Latvian registrations begin with YL- – how the system works is explained in the article Understanding aircraft registrations. Particularly sought-after are the aircraft in special liveries with the national colors of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. At the home airport you have the best chances of getting them in front of the lens; tips for a targeted search are provided by the article Finding special liveries.

Wet lease: green jets with someone else’s flight number

A large part of the airBaltic fleet has not been flying for the airline itself in recent years but on wet lease for others – above all for companies of the Lufthansa Group, which came in at airBaltic in 2025 and holds a ten percent stake. For you, that means: a green A220 in Riga may set off in the morning for an assignment in Western Europe and only come back days later. How this model works is explained in the article Wet lease explained.

2026: restructuring and a smaller fleet

As of October 2026, airBaltic is in the middle of a deep overhaul. In August 2026, the airline presented a business plan that shrinks the fleet to about 36 aircraft by the end of 2026. In September, it voluntarily filed in New York for restructuring proceedings under Chapter 11 of US bankruptcy law. Flight operations continue, but the airline has announced it will fly fewer routes in summer 2027.

For the airport, that means fewer movements by its most important customer – and for you as a spotter a reason to log current registrations early. Individual YL registrations are likely to disappear from service in the coming months. Check the current schedule before every visit.

Who else lands in Riga

Behind airBaltic, with a clear gap, comes Ryanair, which accounted for around 23 percent of passengers in 2025 and operates a base in Riga. At Ryanair you see the Boeing 737-800 and the newer 737 MAX variants. Norwegian has also been represented with a base since 2024 and reached around 5 percent in 2025; its fleet consists of 737-800s and 737 MAX 8s. Wizz Air had a base in Riga from 2014 to 2021.

The big network airlines bring feeder traffic to their hubs: Lufthansa from Frankfurt (around 3 percent of passengers in 2025), LOT from Warsaw, Finnair from Helsinki, SAS from Copenhagen and Turkish Airlines from Istanbul. With Uzbekistan Airways there is also a connection to Tashkent – a touch of exoticism that recalls the years when the Uzbeks made a stopover in Riga on their way to New York – most recently until 2017. In summer, charter and leisure airlines are added.

Cargo and small oddities

With just over 20,000 tons in 2025, Riga is not a big cargo airport, but it offers variety. Express services fly regularly, according to spotter guides on behalf of DHL, among others. In addition, smaller operators such as RAF-Avia are based in Riga, whose fleet according to spotter reports includes Saab 340s and Antonov An-26s. Such types often stand on the aprons north of the terminal – subjects you hardly find at big Western European airports anymore.

Spotter guides also mention parking areas on both sides of the runway where regional jets were temporarily parked. What stands there at any given time changes constantly; do not rely on older reports.

Spotting in Riga: where you stand

There is no visitor park or observation deck like in Munich or Hamburg in Riga. The spotter community uses a series of points around the fence instead – on both sides of the runway and at the two runway ends. According to a well-known spotter guide, there has been an important change since summer 2026: for all vantage points except the official spotter embankment on Skultes iela, a prior request to the airport is required. Clarify this directly with the airport before the trip instead of relying on older reports.

Roughly, the known places can be divided like this:

• West side on Skultes iela: the official spotter point, an elevated earth embankment west of the runway with a view of the entire runway and parts of the apron behind it. The light works here from about midday until sunset. Reachable by city bus and a longer walk.
• North runway end and east side: a dirt track at the apron for departures on 36 and places near a garden-house settlement for approaches to 18. Good light from sunrise until about midday. Respect private properties and do not park directly at the fence.
• South runway end: meadows and fields south of the airfield for approaches to 36 and departures on 18. Here too, the morning is the best time. Company and private grounds stay off limits.

For pictures across the runway, you mostly need a telephoto in the range of 200 to 400 millimeters in Riga; at the runway ends, less is often enough. Which focal length suits what is shown in the article Lens and focal length in plane spotting. Because the spots are far apart, spotter guides recommend a car. The bus works too but costs time.

Weather and seasons

Latvia has long, bright summer days and short, often gray winter days. Summer brings the most movements, more charter traffic and the most stable weather. Then, however, heat shimmer over the long runway is an issue, especially at midday and with long focal lengths. Tips against it are provided by the article Avoiding heat shimmer.

In winter, the sun in the Baltics is very low. With a north–south runway, that means: around midday you quickly have backlight at the runway ends, and the bright hours are scarce. How to adjust is covered in the article Plane spotting in winter. Clear, cold days with snow can deliver special pictures, though – but heavy snowfall has also caused a jet to slide off the runway after landing.

Getting there and expansion

You reach the center with city bus line 22; there are also fixed-price taxis and rental cars. Via the P133 trunk road, the airport is connected to the road network and the European route E22. There is no rail connection so far – that changes with Rail Baltica: the new standard-gauge line from Tallinn via Riga to the Polish border gets its own station at the airport, on which construction is under way. The first expansion stage of the overall line is scheduled for 2030.

At the terminal itself there have been several modernizations and extensions since 2001, most recently in 2016 in the north. Long-term plans include another pier in the south and a new control tower. When these projects will be implemented also depends on how traffic develops after the restructuring at airBaltic.

Riga in comparison

In the Baltics, Riga is clearly number one. Tallinn Airport reached around 3.5 million passengers in 2025, about half, and Vilnius Airport is also significantly smaller. Both are at the same time secondary hubs of airBaltic – if you collect the green A220s, you find them there as well. Larger hubs in the neighborhood are Helsinki Airport with Finnair, Warsaw Airport with LOT and Stockholm Arlanda.

For your first tour, the gear checklist and the article Plane spotting for beginners also help.

Conclusion

Riga Airport is not a spotter paradise with a visitor park and terrace, but a rewarding destination for anyone interested in airBaltic, the A220 or Eastern European oddities. A single runway, a manageable terminal and a home airline that accounts for more than half of the traffic make the place easy to follow – as long as you take care of access, runway direction and light beforehand.

2026 is a year of upheaval for Riga: airBaltic is shrinking and restructuring, while the Rail Baltica station is growing on the grounds. If you want the current A220 fleet complete in your logbook, you should not wait too long.