Transfers and Terminal Layout at Riga Airport
Riga Airport handles all flights in one terminal with a central check-in hall for all destinations.
It is one of the smaller and very clear airports. From the entrance to the terminal to the exit, it takes no more than 10 minutes to walk to the aircraft.
Cheap hotels near Riga Airport
A single security checkpoint on the left side of the concourse takes you to a single transit area with departure gates B and C.
Non-Schengen flights fly from the end of "Concourse C", where passport control is also located. These gates are the furthest away from the security checkpoint, so if you are flying from Riga to a non-Schengen country, leave a larger margin and ideally go through security at least 1 hour before departure.
Transfer between flights
Thanks to the modern AirBaltic network, Riga is an important transfer point, especially from flights to Europe towards the Baltics, Scandinavia or Transcaucasia.
The transfer is very well organised and you don't have to leave the transit zone at all, even if you combine the transfer on your own by buying 2 separate tickets (if you are travelling with hand luggage only).
There is no security or passport control on flights between Schengen countries.
When transferring from a Schengen to a non-Schengen flight, you only go through passport control, otherwise you go through security. However, there are never queues longer than 10 minutes at these checks.
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2 comments
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.