Airport, Good for Business, Investments, Latvia, Transport

A new state-of-art FBO RIGA Business Aviation Center opened at Riga International Airport Tuesday, September 8, 2015. It now provides a full range of ground handling services for business aircraft, passengers and crews. In the nearest future, the company is going to expand the service portfolio adding MRO services for business jets. This will also contribute to the sustainable growth of the number of aircraft handled at the Riga airport.

The total investment in the project amounted to 12.5 million euros. FBO RIGA has become one of the largest and the most modern business aviation centers in the Baltic States and Scandinavia.

“Latvia has a huge potential for the development of business aviation due to the country’s geographical location. For example, one can easily reach Stockholm, Berlin, Moscow and other European and CIS business centers just within one hour and a half of flight from Riga. High quality service is provided here at competitive rates. Thus, we can offer more favorable terms of business aircraft handling than other European countries”, emphasized Leonid Gorodnitski, co-owner of FBO RIGA.

Roman Starkov added from his part that FBO RIGA has already been handling 60% of business aviation flights at Riga International Airport. The key markets for the company are countries located within 1500 kilometers from Riga – Central and Northern Europe, the Baltic States, Russia and near CIS states.

Potential customers have already highly estimated FBO RIGA services. An agreement for basing a Gulfstream G650 of Emperor Aviation, one of the leading business aviation operators in Europe and Russia, in the new FBO RIGA center was signed in May 2015.

“Today we are in negotiations with business aviation operators about aircraft basing and handling at Riga.  We are looking forward to reach an agreement by the end of the year”, said Roman Starkov.

FBO RIGA Business Aviation Center consists of a modern business aviation terminal (1200 m²), an aircraft hangar (8400 m²), a parking apron for business jets and a helipad. The total area of the new center is 12,000 m².

Constantin Bursakovski, Chairman of SIA Ostas celtnieks, the general contractor for FBO RIGA hangar construction, emphasized that the project was unique for Latvia in terms of both design and using superior materials in the construction. According to experts, this also confirms FBO RIGA’s international ambitions.

“For example, a support-free arched structure of the hangar has a span of 98 meters, the width of the gate opening, and the size of the hangar itself can accommodate two hockey pitches and still have room for spectators”, said Mr. Bursakovski.

“The FBO RIGA hangar if one of the most high tech ones meeting the highest safety requirements. Much attention was paid to its energy efficiency and cutting time required to perform any maintenance operation. Thus, we can offer the best conditions for our customers”, noticed Leonid Gorodnitski.

The hangar specially designed for aircraft storage and maintenance can easily accommodate up to five Boeing Business Jets, nine Gulfstream G550s or 20 Learjet-60s. An average capacity of the hangar is 12-14 business aircraft of different types.

The FBO RIGA terminal was built on an individual architectural design project. Modern classic interior design was created by one of the most successful Latvian designers – Zane Tetere. FBO RIGA applied a modern concept of a boutique-terminal implying an exceptional quality of service, exclusive design and functionality. There are six comfortable seating areas, two VIP meeting rooms, a bar and an art gallery on the ground floor of the terminal, while a conference room is located on the first floor. The terminal also accommodates a certified dispatch & operational control center FCG OPS providing daily flight support to more than 90 business aircraft around the globe.

The FBO RIGA Business Aviation Center project has been implemented in less than 2 years. The design and construction works were made using advanced technology and world’s best practices. Environmentally friendly and biodegradable materials were used in the construction were possible.

An official partner of FBO RIGA for passenger transfers is the official importer of Porsche in Latvia – Porsche Centrs Riga. «Krassky» provided the furniture for the terminal. FBO RIGA partner is Gulfstream.

FBO RIGA is a part of the holding company Flight Consulting Group.