Airport welcomes improvements, airBaltic

VENTSPILS - Ventspils secured a major accomplishment in bringing itself closer to tourists and businessmen when it recently completed significant infrastructure developments at its airport. The city even welcomed a test flight from airBaltic two weeks ago, and the Latvian carrier stated its intentions to open regular flights between the capital and the country's leading port town.

AirBaltic management said they made the trip to familiarize themselves with the new route, though they said for the time being there would be no fixed flights to Ventspils until the beginning of next year.
Once launched, the flights are expected to cost around 15 lats (22.3 euros) one-way.
The importance of the announcement cannot be overstated for Ventspils, since the city needs to "close the distance" between itself and the capital and has gone to great lengths to make improvements to the airport and will continue to do so in the future.

As Arturs Kokars, manager of Ventspils International Airport, says, "As of today, we have finished the first and second stages of development. The first stage was the renovation of operations, and the second was the preparation for regular flight traffic. We have renovated the main structure of the airport, including the terminal, observation tower and the refueling facilities."
To obtain the appropriate certification and be capable of handling scheduled passenger air traffic, strict EU and civil aviation rules and a development timetable had to be met.
Ventspils Airport now boasts a surveillance radar and a high-technology autometeorological observation station able to handle flight management in harsh weather conditions.
But despite the improvements, airport management is taking a wait-and-see approach as to its near-term prospects.
"We will have mostly general aviation and a few charter flights to and from the airport this year. We do plan to fly regularly and have hopes for the opening of the airBaltic carrier," says Kokars.
Arnis Muiznieks, director of the aviation department at the Transport Ministry, is also cautiously optimistic in his expectations for Ventspils.
"It's a bit premature to predict too much, but we can see a rapid development in Europe and are optimistic," he says.
Still, tourism and business are expected to get a boost after the airport improvements, as the prospect of the three-hour bus or car journey is replaced by a short flight.
As Ieva Briede, chief specialist to the Ventspils Tourism Board, says, "We hope it will have a positive effect on tourism and business in Ventspils. Now air travel is another way of traveling to Ventspils, a way which is fast, convenient and comfortable. This should increase the number of tourists."
Ventspils' reputed business friendly environment also stands to gain.
"Transportation is interconnected in any city, and with the development of the airport we should have a cheap and accessible service. The good thing about Ventspils is that it is a practical city with strong economic potential for the transport business," says Muiznieks.
The improvements and obtaining the necessary certificates didn't come easy - they cost the City Council some 1 million euros.
The most recent project was the launching of the State Air Traffic Company, which will use state-of-the-art AFIS air traffic management technology, the first airport in Latvia to do so. The AFIS system will provide the ultimate management of Ventspils' low flight density.
Also, Ventspils Airport is now certified in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization's regulations.
The first and second development stages, however, were preparation for the third and final stage.
"The third stage is the renovation of the runway, which is to start in 2007. We had to carry out the technical renovations first, before we could start the final stage in the airport master plan," says Kokars.
For the runway, the Ventspils City Council will need cofunding resources from EU structural funds.
"We are expecting funding from the EU for the third stage. We did not receive EU funding for the first and second stages - these were financed by the City Council. But the third stage will cost around 10 million - 12 million euros and the City Council cannot afford this on its own," says Kokars.
Advancements in the air traffic control tower's equipment, including direct access to information provided by radar and GPS and GNSS navigation systems, will also be made in the near future.
As for the long-term, the development of scheduled air carrier projects and the renovation of Ventspils Airport will hopefully be able to attract more air carriers.
"We have fulfilled our minimum of one air carrier so far, and hopefully accession to the EU will attract more," says Kokars.
The Transport Ministry says it's ready to help transform Ventspils from a regional airport to a major national one.
"We as a ministry are doing all we can to attract resources and are ready to assist Ventspils in any way. We are trying to attract foreign investors, as we believe that there is a lot of potential in Ventspils Airport," comments Muiznieks.