Airport, EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Transport

Each decrease in the number of passengers is negative, however, it is necessary to realize that it was envisaged by airBaltic business plan," said Matiss and added that another airline – Ryanair – has also reduced its flight numbers and moved some of them to Lithuania.

"This increase in the number of passengers was related to the fact that there were many economically unjustified destinations. The company's expenses grew and it was necessary to abandon such destinations and reduce the amount of flights, increasing economic loads and providing a positive effect," said Matiss.

In this case, flight and passenger number reductions are objective and the airport's administration should not be blamed. At the moment, it is important to attract new airlines, which is being done, emphasized Matiss.

According to Matiss, the airport's administration is doing its best and successfully working on attracting new airlines, which is not among the easiest tasks, taking into account Latvia's population and the airport's passenger turnover.

"However, it does not mean, that this will go on forever. The number of passengers will definitely increase and exceed past figures during the next few years," predicted Matiss.

As reported, the Riga International Airport served 2.24 million passengers in the first six months this year, 5.9% less than in the first half of 2011.

The number of flights from the Riga Airport reduced 4.2%.

In June, the Riga Airport's passenger turnover totaled 473,260 – 11.1% down on June 2011, whereas the number of flights from the airport decreased 9.8%.