Priority Pass is fantastic for international travel, as it permits you to use lounges in smaller airports like Riga. The Primeclass Business lounge, much like the lounge in IDW Esperanza Resort Lounge in Vilnius, was a nice, comfortable place to relax, eat, and get some peace and quiet before a short-haul intra-European flight.
Trip Report Series:
Review: Air France Lounge, New York JFK Terminal 1
Three Days in Vilnius, Lithuania
Review: IDW Esperanza Resort Lounge, Vilnius Airport
Three Days in Riga, Latvia
Review: Primeclass Business Lounge, Riga International Airport (RIX)
Review: Air Baltic Economy Class, Riga to Tallinn
Three Days in Tallinn, Estonia: A Foodie’s Paradise!
Review: Tallink Megastar, Tallinn to Helsinki
Review: Aspire Lounge, Helsinki Vantaa Airport
Review: KLM Business Class, Helsinki to London Heathrow (via Amsterdam)
Review: Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, London Heathrow
Review: Delta One Business Class, London Heathrow to Atlanta
Quick Details
Per the priority pass website, the lounge is open from 5 AM to 2:30 AM daily. It is located airside, past security checks, near gate B1, with a lift that will take you to the 3rd floor. The lounge is accessible to Schengen and Non-Schengen passengers on international flights only.
Currently, there is some construction activity ongoing at Riga airport, so it can be a bit confusing to find gate B1. Fortunately, it is not a super large airport, but you will have to do some walking through the construction zones to find the lift to get to the lounge.
Lounge Interior
The friendly receptionist checked us in, and similar to the lounge in Vilnius airport, I particularly loved the selection of magazines that were available to readers that featured the in-flight editions offered on board European carriers. It was easy to find copies for airlines such as Finnair, LOT Polish, SAS, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, and others. I also absolutely loved the model airplanes on display. Why can’t U.S. lounges have similar #AvGeek stuff in their entrances? It isn’t a very expensive addition, but I digress.
The best part of the lounge is that it has a great view of the apron and plenty of seating spaces near the windows to watch planes landing and taking off from RIX. Granted, there isn’t a ton of aircraft and airline diversity at Riga, but nevertheless, it is very calming.
The furniture is also very comfortable and replete with power ports and electrical sockets at virtually every seat, which is something you may not even find in the U.S.
The food and beverage options were fairly standard. They weren’t overwhelming by any means, but you could find a nice mix of hot and cold options to tide you over for a few hours. There is a hot soup station, as well as salads, and small finger foods with meats, cheeses, vegetables, and potatoes. I also noticed that there was a fairly large selection of pastries and breakfast food items out on display, even though it was mid-afternoon. I also was really impressed by the desserts section as there was a really nice looking slice of red velvet cake on offer.
There are fresh juices, a coffee/espresso machine and a wide selection of Teas. The bar, like most lounges, is self-serve featuring beer and wine.
I appreciated that there was also a FIDs (Flight Information Display) screen in the lounge.
Finally, there was a conference room section as well as a children’s play area. The lounge also offers a shower.
Verdict: the Prime Class Business Lounge @ Riga
This lounge is very simple, yet elegant. It has all of the basics covered from food to entertainment to business needs to showers to powering spaces. There is plenty of room to eat, dine, play, work and relax. For a small, yet important regional airport like Riga, where airBaltic flies to numerous nonstop destinations all over Continental Europe and the CIS countries, the Prime Class lounge provides every need that the modern road warrior needs.
