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Transfers and Terminal Layout at Riga Airport
Riga Airport handles passengers for all flights ata single terminalwith a central check-in hall for all destinations.
It is a smaller, very well-organised airport. It takes no more than 10 minutes to walk from the terminal entrance to the boarding gate.
Cheap hotels near Riga Airport
The single security checkpoint on the left-hand side of the hall leads you to the single transit area with departure gates B and C.
Flights outside the Schengen Area depart from the end of “Concourse C”, where passport control is also located. These gates are furthest from the security checkpoint, so if you are flying from Riga to a country outside the Schengen Area, allow plenty of time and ideally go through security at least 1 hour before departure.
Transferring between flights
Thanks to the modern network carrier AirBaltic, Riga is a major transfer hub, particularly for flights from Europe to the Baltic States, Scandinavia or the South Caucasus.
How much time is needed for a transfer?
The transfer is very well organised and you do not need to leave the transit area at all, even if you arrange the transfer yourself by purchasing two separate tickets (provided you are travelling with hand luggage only).
The transfer times listed below are from the moment you leave the aircraft until you arrive at the connecting departure gate.
AirBaltic also has a transfer desk in the transit area in case your flight is delayed or you encounter any other issues.
Schengen <-> Schengen
You will disembark directly into the departure gates area.
Simply check the nearest departure board to see where your next flight is departing from, and that’s all you need to do.
- Security check:no
- Passport control:no
- Realistic transfer time based on our experience:5–10 minutes
Schengen -> Non-Schengen
You will disembark directly into the “Schengen” departure gates area, from where you must always proceed to Gates “C”.
- Security check:no
- Passport control:yes
- Realistic transfer time based on our experience:10–25 minutes
Non-Schengen -> Schengen or Non-Schengen
You will disembark into the arrivals hall, from where you can either head out into Riga or go through security to reach the departure gates.
- Security check:yes
- Passport control:yes
- Realistic transfer time based on our experience:15–35 minutes
Are you continuing?
We have personally visitedhundreds of airports around the worldand have written practical information about most of them that you may find useful.
Specifically, from Riga we have travelled to the following airports and countries:
- 👉 Helsinki HEL – which train goes to the city centre?
- 👉 Turku TKU – bus from the airport to the city centre
- 👉 Tallinn – 23 places to see
Visiting the city whilst on a stopover
If you have a layover in Riga of at least4 hours, pop into the centre of Riga for a quick visit.
The bus takes about 30 minutes to reach the city centre.
If we factor in time for waiting for your luggage, the journey to the station, and add 1.5 hours before departure – by which time you should already be at the airport – you’ll have roughly 3 hours of free time to explore Riga during a 4-hour layover.
You can walk through the historic centre in about an hour.
If you have a long overnight layover, I would recommend staying in one of the hotels right next to the airport.
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2 comments
J0x
Translated from cestee.cz
There are automatic gates on the passports, so it's quick.
It states that it is not necessary to leave transit when making the transfer. How does this work in practice?
Is it like in Prague at T2 where nothing is checked and after arrival you can go straight to departure, or is there a gate where boarding passes for the next flight are scanned? If so, how long before the flight is allowed?
I think it's clearly written up there. Just a short, uninterrupted walk. The gates close pretty shortly before departure.
It's not mentioned there. I'm flying in at 1:00 a.m., and I wanted to use their transit hotel for the rest of the night. My flight doesn't leave until the afternoon. If there's a boarding pass scanner that lets you in like 4 hours before departure, it won't work that way, if not, it will.
I can't remember the last time I saw a gateway in transit for a BP reading. There certainly isn't one here, which is probably why the text doesn't mention that it's not there when it wouldn't be a completely common thing. The airport website, by the way, says at the Kepler Club that everyone from all sides has access, even without BP.
Some places you can transfer freely, like T2 in Prague, some places have scanners at BP, like Turin, and some places, like BTS, don't have transfer from arrivals to transit at all and you have to get out.
You can use the hotel within PP, but only from transit and you need BP, which I will have. It works the same way at SAW airport for example.
BP will beep validly whenever you have a same-day departure.
Depending on the location, Pisa allows airside at least two and a half hours before the flight, Prague supposedly up to 12 hours before the flight.