Riga Airport Calls on Investors to Engage in the Development of RIX Cargo City

Continuing the development of the air cargo segment, Riga Airport has announced an international tender to attract an investor for the construction of a new multi-functional cargo handling and logistics complex in the airport territory.

To create the complex, the airport offers investors an opportunity to acquire building rights for 30 years to a plot of land in an area of 1.5 hectares in the northern part of the airport territory, where the airport is developing a specialized air cargo handling area or RIX Cargo City.

According to the tender terms of reference, the investor will have to build an air cargo handling and logistics center with an area of no less than 4,000 square meters and related infrastructure, providing handling of no less than 5,000 tonnes of cargo per year. However, the capacity of the plot also allows for a larger area of construction of up to 9,000 square meters.

The Airport invites experienced investors to participate in the tender – the tenderer or its partners must be air cargo companies with at least three years of continuous experience in the air cargo handling business in the last five years, ensuring at least 5,000 tonnes of air cargo turnover per year.

“The development of the air cargo segment has been set by Riga Airport as one of its strategic goals. Riga, as the largest air cargo hub in the Baltic region, already offers multi-modal logistics solutions, high-quality service and a favorable cooperation platform. In order to make Riga Airport even more attractive to investors and cargo carriers, in recent years the airport has made extensive investments in the development of modern and sustainable cargo handling infrastructure,” says Laila Odiņa, chairperson of the board of Riga Airport.

The plot of land offered to investors is located next to the airport's new cargo handling apron, which launched its operations this October. The new apron covers an area of 95,000 square meters and is directly connected to RIX Cargo City area. Apron’s multi-functional aircraft stands allow flexible planning of aircraft layout and accommodation of even the largest class F and E aircraft, while the underground refueling hydrant system enables a significant increase in aircraft refueling capacity and thus service speed, as well as promotes reduction of the risk of environmental pollution.

DHL regional parcel handling complex, the construction of which started this year, will launch its operation in the territory of RIX Cargo City next year.

It is planned that the total cargo handling capacity of RIX Cargo City will exceed 60,000 tonnes per year, allowing Riga Airport to double the turnover of serviced cargo in the coming years.

The volume of air cargo transportation in Latvia consists of four business lines: export and import of high value-added goods, mail and e-commerce, air cargo transit and non-military cargo transit to Afghanistan for the needs of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The involvement of SJSC "Latvijas pasts” in the global e-commerce parcel transportation segment in cooperation with the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and the Post of Russia, also contributes to the development of a successful logistics solution as a result of which, unscheduled cargo charter flights from China are operated to Riga since 2017.

Currently, cargo carriage at Riga Airport is provided by seven airlines: cargo carriers Atlas Air, Atran, Eleron and RAF Avia, as well as courier companies Fedex, UPS and DHL.

Last year, 27.2 thousand tonnes of cargo were handled at Riga Airport, whereas in the first ten months of this year – more than 18,000 tonnes. The cargo turnover of Riga Airport accounts for more than a half of the total cargo turnover in the Baltic States.