Europe’s Newest FBO Opens for Business

FBO Riga, a brand-new $14 million business aviation service facility at Latvia’s Riga International Airport, held its grand opening on Tuesday. Now that its new complex is open, FBO Riga expects a boost of more than one-third in traffic; the facility already handles 60 percent of the bizav flights at the airport, according to its owners.

“Latvia has a huge potential for the development of business aviation due to the country’s geographical location,” noted co-owner Leonid Gorodnitski. “One can easily reach Stockholm, Berlin, Moscow and other European and CIS business centers just within a one-and-a-half-hour flight time from Riga.” The FBO occupies three acres at the airport and features a 13,000-sq-ft terminal with six seating areas, two meeting rooms, a bar, an art gallery and a conference center, while the more than 90,000-sq-ft heated storage and maintenance hangar can accommodate five bizliners or nine ultra-long-range business jets.

The company has already signed an agreement with Emperor Aviation to base a Gulfstream G650 there, and it soon plans to expand its services with the addition of MRO capabilities.