newstodate.aero

Apr 22, 2024 (newstodate): Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia's war on Ukraine, transfer traffic played an important role for Riga Airport and airBaltic.
   Russia and Belarus were key markets for airBaltic generating transfer traffic to and from European destinations. This came to a halt, and the focus has since been for airBaltic to increase in the point-to-point markets instead.
   Now one region is offering potentials for growing the share of transfer traffic again: the ex-Yugoslav countries.
   airBaltic is thus set to expand in the region with the launch of year-round flights from Riga to Ljubljana, followed by seasonal flights from Riga to Skopje and Pristina.     
   Already in summer 2023, airBaltic launched seasonal flights from Riga to Belgrade and Tivat, as well as from Tallinn to Dubrovnik and Split, and these flights are now being resumed.
   -Historically, the Balkan region has been underserved by the airBaltic network. Our aim is to bridge this gap by facilitating travel between the Baltic and Scandinavian countries and the Balkans with seamless transfers through Riga Airport, airBaltic VP Network Development Mantas Vrubliauskas told local media.
   In 2013, the proportion of transfer traffic through Riga Airport was as high as 50 percent, but in 2021 transfer passengers accounted for only 22 percent of the airport's total throughput.
   In 2016, Russia alone accounted for 54 percent of all transfer passengers through Riga Airport, even rising to 57 percent in 2017.