Press Release

Issued by FBO Riga.

May 11, 2017

In September 2015, the official opening ceremony of FBO Riga, a business aviation centre at the Riga International Airport, was held. The FBO Riga centre promptly became the main point of arrival and departure for the majority of business aviation clients coming to Riga, and in April 2016, it was conferred the Sapphire Pegasus award as the best FBO in Europe.

FBO Riga pays close attention to the wishes of its clients, both of passengers, and crews, and continuously improves its services.

The co-owner of FBO Riga and of the Flight Consulting Group holding, Roman Starkov, comments: “All companies of our holding take great care of service quality. With the opening FBO Riga, we have discovered high interest in our services and a year after the opening we decided to expand the crew area. It is extremely important for the crew to be comfortable, as this way they can save their time and do not have to worry about anything, but can focus and properly prepare for the flight. All this eventually contributes to flight safety. I like the phrase of my colleague, a manager of one of the major FBOs in Europe, who said: “Crew is also the king for FBOs!” I agree that a crew reinvigorated after a good rest is one of the main contributions to a successful flight, as this is the crew who bears responsibility for the safety and comfort of passengers during a flight, organization and preparation of which engages an enormous number of people”.

Therefore, to take crew care to the next level, FBO Riga has just completed a several months long renovation of the existing crew room facilities in the FBO Riga terminal. The newly refurbished facilities have been sponsored by Satcom Direct (SD), the business aviation connectivity provider, with SD branding and signage appearing throughout the crew area.

During the fitting out of the premises, in cooperation with the designer Zane Tetere who also developed the design for the FBO Riga terminal, two spacious premises were thoroughly elaborated and planned, providing working places with high-speed internet, Wi-Fi colour printers, a kitchenette with hot and cold refreshments, cosy chairs and sofas, a shower room and WC. Both premises are located in the sterile area, which allows crews to come there directly from the airplane without passing security control. The comfort of the new rest room was immediately appreciated by a large number of crews arriving to Riga for a short turn who now prefer to stay at the airport instead of going to a hotel to have a short rest. This saves their energy and time, and the money of the airplane operator.

“We are really pleased to be sponsoring FBO Riga which we view as a gateway to the east from Europe. It's an extremely well run FBO with a strong focus on crew care, which is essential for safe flight operations. Satcom Direct also works closely with all crew members to develop products, provide training and keep them connected. Sponsoring FBO Riga gives us a great visibility in an important location,” said Evgeniy Pashkov, business development manager, Russia and CIS.