Airport, Labour-market, Latvia, Transport

Lice will be serving as the acting board chairperson until a new board chairperson is found to run the airport.

Juris Kanels, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, said that consultations were under way with the Latvian Transport Ministry as the shareholder of Riga International Airport about how to proceed with the search for a new board chairperson.

As reported, Armands Jurjevs, who took office as Riga International Airport CEO at the end of October 2016, tendered his resignation letter on Thursday but was evasive in his comments about the reasons behind his resignation.

Kanels said on Thursday that he was surprised by Jurjevs' resignation and did not know why the board chairman had decided to quit.

Transport Minister Uldis Augulis (Greens/Farmers) and the ministry's assistant state secretary, Dzineta Innusa, who holds the airport's shares on behalf of the government, also said they did not know the reason for Jurjevs' resignation.

Fully-owned by the Latvian state, Riga International Airport is the largest air traffic hub in the Baltic states. The airport's turnover in 2015 was EUR 49,090,248, up 10% from 2014, while the airport's profit reached EUR 1,150,876.