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Riga International Airport (RIX): flight delays and compensation

Riga International Airport. As an EU airport, every flight departing from here is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004. Here is what to expect if your flight was delayed or cancelled here, or you were stranded.

By the EU261 Flight Delay editorial team Last reviewed: Reading time: 6 min How we write our guides

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In short: Any flight departing from Riga International Airport that arrives 3 or more hours late, is cancelled less than 14 days before departure, or is overbooked can give €250–600 per passenger. Departures: EU261 with any airline.

About the airport

Riga International Airport (RIX) serves Riga, Latvia. On the routes Eurostat reports, 6,019,248 passengers flew to or from it in 2024, the 80th-highest among the 397 European airports we cover. Its busiest connections were to Helsinki, Stockholm, Tallinn, Frankfurt.

Every flight departing from here is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004, whatever the airline. Flights arriving here are covered if they depart from the EU, or if an EU airline operates them from outside the EU.

Busiest routes from Riga – and what a delay is worth

The 30 busiest routes on Eurostat’s 2024 data, with the compensation for a 3-hour-plus delay or a late cancellation in each direction.

DestinationPassengers 2024DistanceFrom RIXReturn
Helsinki HEL393,826382 km€250€250
Stockholm ARN323,634465 km€250€250
Tallinn TLL303,840282 km€250€250
Frankfurt FRA275,7121,271 km€250€250
Oslo OSL256,335829 km€250€250
Vilnius VNO254,505267 km€250€250
London STN243,8311,625 km€400£350
Vienna VIE230,9131,099 km€250€250
Berlin BER227,176842 km€250€250
Copenhagen CPH213,288713 km€250€250
Amsterdam AMS212,5101,333 km€250€250
Istanbul IST173,9961,773 km€400€400*
Antalya AYT155,3942,283 km€400€400*
Munich MUC139,6991,255 km€250€250
London LGW138,8781,692 km€400£350
Paris CDG130,7011,672 km€400€400
Dublin DUB120,7091,942 km€400€400
Prague PRG120,665992 km€250€250
Warsaw WAW113,718563 km€250€250
Barcelona BCN109,7732,337 km€400€400
Brussels BRU100,1981,434 km€250€250
Zurich ZRH82,9451,481 km€250€250
Milan BGY82,4321,590 km€400€400
Rome FCO81,6891,877 km€400€400
Málaga AGP80,8983,081 km€400€400
Palanga PLQ76,116206 km€250€250
Düsseldorf DUS72,0851,279 km€250€250
Hamburg HAM69,770956 km€250€250
Oslo TRF67,311843 km€250€250
Tampere / Pirkkala TMP67,150500 km€250€250

* only with an EU (or UK) airline. Passengers: Eurostat, both directions, routes reported by EU/EEA airports.

Air traffic flow delays at Riga (2025)

EUROCONTROL records the delay imposed on arriving flights when the airport or the airspace around it cannot take more traffic (air traffic flow management, “ATFM”). In 2025, 31,417 flights arrived at RIX; 8 of them were held back this way, 1 by more than 15 minutes – an average of 0.00 minutes per arrival.

What caused the ATFM delay

  • weather100%

Average ATFM delay per arrival by month (min)

  1. J
  2. F
  3. M
  4. A
  5. M
  6. J
  7. J
  8. A
  9. S
  10. O
  11. N
  12. D

Worst days: 18 December 2025 – 61 minutes, mostly weather.

2026 so far (to 30 September 2026): 24,283 arrivals, 0.01 minutes of ATFM delay per arrival (worse than 2025), mainly weather (75%) and ATC capacity (25%).

Check what happened at RIX on your travel day →

What this means for a claim: ATFM delays come from weather (100% here), air traffic control capacity and staffing (0%) or airport limits – causes airlines often cite as extraordinary circumstances. They are only part of the story: most long delays come from the airline’s own operation (technical faults, crew, late inbound aircraft), which this data does not show. Source: EUROCONTROL.

Typical delay causes at Riga International Airport

  • EUROCONTROL recorded 31,417 arrivals at RIX in 2025; 8 were held by air traffic flow restrictions, 1 of them by more than 15 minutes.
  • The largest single cause of this flow delay was weather (100%).
  • The worst day was 18 December 2025, with 61 minutes of flow delay, mostly weather.
  • Most long delays that earn compensation are not flow delays but airline problems – technical faults, crew shortages and late inbound aircraft – which do not count as extraordinary circumstances.

Airlines you are likely to fly with here

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    What happened?Step 1 of 4

    What happened to your flight?
    Where did you fly from and to?

    With a connection, enter your first departure and your final destination – compensation is based on the total distance.

    How late did you arrive at your final destination?

    What counts is when the aircraft doors opened at your destination – not the departure delay.

    When were you told about the cancellation?
    When did you arrive on the replacement flight?
    Which airline operated the flight?
    When was the flight?

    How many passengers were on the booking?

    1 passenger

    Every passenger gets their own compensation, children too. Infants under 2 without their own seat do not count.

    • Free, no sign-up
    • Fee only if successful (35%)
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    Rather skip the questions? Start a claim with AirHelp straight away

    Local information

    • Ask the airline staff at the gate for the reason for the delay or cancellation and write it down; take a photo of the departure board.
    • From 2 hours’ delay (depending on distance) the airline must give you meals and drinks, and a hotel if you are stuck overnight – keep the receipts if you had to pay yourself.
    • If the airline rejects your claim, complain to the national enforcement body of the country where the flight departed (or arrived, for flights from outside the EU), or go to court.

    Frequently asked questions

    Can I claim compensation for a flight departing from Riga International Airport?

    Yes. RIX is an EU airport, so every flight departing from it is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004, whatever the airline and wherever it is based.

    Can I claim compensation for a flight arriving at Riga International Airport?

    If the flight departed from an EU airport: yes, with any airline. If it departed from the UK: yes, under UK261, with any airline. If it departed from elsewhere: only if an EU airline operated it.

    How is the length of the delay measured?

    By your arrival time at your final destination – more precisely, the moment the aircraft door opens at the gate. It must be at least 3 hours after the scheduled arrival time.

    Related guides

    Information only, not legal advice. Passenger figures are approximate and based on the airports' published statistics; punctuality figures are from the UK Civil Aviation Authority. We earn a commission when a claim submitted through our partner links is successful.

    Sources

    1. Eurostat – air passenger transport routes between partner airports and main airports (2024) – Eurostat
    2. EUROCONTROL – airport arrival ATFM delays (open performance data) – EUROCONTROL

    We check every rule against the sources above. Spotted an error? Tell us – see our editorial policy.