Discovering Spilve and the Aviation Heritage of Riga, Riga, Latvia

Riga, the capital of Latvia has a rich aviation heritage that began in Spilve Meadow when Latvia was a state in the Russian Empire.

It was during this period, in 1915 that the Russian military began flight operations in a field five kilometres from the centre of Riga, the capital of Latvia one of the Baltic States.

When Latvia became an independent state after the Russian Revolution in 1917 Spilve was developed as a military base for the Latvian Air Force. But Latvia lost its independence during the Second World War. First it was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940. It was then occupied by Nazi Germany between 1941 and 1944 before being re-occupied by the Soviet Union in 1944. This second occupation by the Soviet Union lasted until Latvia achieved independence in 1991. By this time Spilve was serving as an international passenger airport. When the Soviets captured the airfield they destroyed all the original buildings and change the name to Riga Central Airport. A new terminal was built in 1954 in the Soviet neoclassical style. It is still there today and is one of the few Stalinist-era buildings in Riga.

Spilve Airport was one of the largest airports in the western part of the USSR until the new Riga International airport opened in 1975. It was then used for local flights and for training students of the Riga Civil Aviation Institute until the late 1980s. Rumours that it has since been abandoned are untrue. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).