In support of its terminal development plans, Riga Airport in Latvia has announced a rebrand of its visual identity.
The new brand name of Riga Airport is RIX Riga Airport, or RIX Rīgas lidosta in Latvian. The name retains the internationally recognized airport code RIX, while the full name has been simplified. In the brand strategy, the many sub-brands under the management of Riga Airport have also been arranged in a single portfolio, giving them a single visual identity and names. The brand’s tagline ‘Closer than expected’ is intended to embody the idea of “convenient connectivity and easy reach, both within the borders of the airport and in a global context”, the airport says.
The new brand strategy and visual identity were created by the design studio Asketic, selected in an open tender, in cooperation with the advertising agency WKND, involving the airport’s employees and cooperation partners in the process. The visual language of the new brand took inspiration from Latvian nature and culture – the green, blue, and beige of the brand symbolize nature, while the graphic elements are inspired by Latvian ethnographic signs and architecture.
The introduction of the brand has started, and will be rolled out over the next four years. This year, the airport plans to introduce the new visual identity in more than half of the materials – in the digital environment, record-keeping materials, souvenirs, signs, terminal information materials, clothing, transportation and elsewhere.
Laila Odiņa, chairperson of the board of RIX Riga Airport, said, “We want to compete with the airports of the Northern European region, so RIX Riga Airport’s offer must be competitive. The new development projects – the airport’s new passenger terminal and the Airport City – as well as the goal of becoming an important regional travel hub, determined the need to create a full-fledged, competitive and modern RIX Riga Airport brand. This includes our values, our promise to customers and cooperation partners and our vision of RIX as one of the best-connected business and travel hubs in the region.”
The two main elements that will shape the new airport environment are the new passenger terminal and the RIX Airport City. The new Riga Airport terminal building has been designed to be sustainable, modern and ergonomic to improve passengers’ travel experience. The passenger check-in hall, security and border control area, shops and cafés, baggage handling complex, new access roads, multi-story parking and connection to the Rail Baltica station will be located in the place of the current short-term parking lot and access ramp. Construction of the terminal should begin in the second half of 2024 and be completed by the end of 2028. The total construction area will be more than 45,000m2, at an estimated cost of €167m (US$181m).
The RIX Airport City is designed to be “a new, multifunctional city” next to Riga Airport, with hotels, offices and retail spaces, and various services for passengers, cargo handlers and local residents. It will have connections to the center of Riga, other Latvian cities, the capitals of the other Baltic states and the whole world, by car, rail and air.
To find out more about RIX Riga Airport’s ongoing terminal development project, read Passenger Terminal Today’s exclusive interview with Laila Odiņa, chairperson of the board of RIX Riga Airport, here.
