RIGA - Latvian Transport Minister Ainars Slesers has said that development of the aviation industry could be the key to surviving the country's economic crisis.
At the European Airport Development Conference held in Latvia on Sept. 9, the transport minister said that the aviation industry could represent the "last chance" for the country to pull itself out of the current economic crisis.
"Tourism, in a time of crisis when we think how to increase revenues, could be the answer so many are expecting 's how to survive the crisis in Latvia. The aviation industry will be Latvia's chance," the minister told journalists after the first day of the conference.
"Riga airport will surely be like Latvia's Nokia 's a mechanism to create new business, and attract passengers and customers to Latvia's market. The more direct routes are open, the sooner Riga will strengthen its positions as an international flight center, international business and tourism center," he said.
Slesers, one of the most high-profile members of the Cabinet, said that Riga had already overtaken airports in the other Baltic states, and that Latvia has become the aviation industry leader in the region.
"We have taken the Baltic market. Estonia and Lithuania have fallen behind Latvia. Estonia has a good port, which will always be a good link between Tallinn and Helsinki or any other Baltic ports, but we have acquired the whole Baltics in aviation," he said.
Last year, Riga Airport served 3.161 million passengers, up 26.7 percent from 2006. The company generated 20.8 million lats (29.58 million euros) in sales in 2007 's up 27.9 percent year-on-year 's and earned 2.8 million lats in un-audited profit, growing threefold over the course of the year.
The European Airport Development Conference 2008 is being held in Riga on September 9 and 10 with aviation experts from all over Europe sharing their recent experiences and analyzing market trends. This is the first time a high-level aviation conference is being held in Riga.
REACHING FOR THE SKY
The transport minister said he sees strong growth rates for Riga Airport in coming years. He predicted that the airport would see as many as 5 million passengers next year 's up from just over 3 million last year and an estimated 4 million by the end of this year. "We have ambitious plans. Next year, when there is crisis in Europe, we plan to reach the highest increase in turnover of passengers. We will reach 5 million passengers next year, and this year we will serve about 4 million people," Slesers said. Moreover, the minister said that he hoped the airport would see as many as 20 million passengers by 2022. The International Air Transport Association, meanwhile, has predicted that the airport will only be able to achieve a turnover of 20 million passengers by 2032.
"The IATA's figure 's 20 million passengers in 2032 's has not been carved in stone. It is related with several criteria: how successfully airlines will develop, how successfully business in general will develop, and how capable the airport's management will be," Slesers said.
