Latvia moves EU passport checks at Riga onto automated border gates
Since late 2020, eligible travellers at RIX have crossed the border without stopping at an officer's desk. The airport puts each crossing at under 20 seconds.
Deployed · limited scope
The gates are in service at every border crossing point in the terminal: four in arrivals, two in transfer and two in departures. Riga Airport announced them on 10 December 2020; that article does not give the exact date they went into operation.
By the airport's own figures, a passenger takes 17 to 20 seconds on average and one gate can handle up to 180 people an hour, against 60 to 70 at a staffed booth. Those are operator figures from the launch announcement. No independent or more recent measurement is on record.
What the system does
How a crossing works. Instead of queueing for an officer, an eligible traveller uses a self-service gate. The officer moves from the desk to supervision: according to the airport, one border guard watches four gates at once. That is where the staffing gain comes from.
Who can use it. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens aged 18 or over with a biometric passport. Travellers with an ID card still go to a staffed booth.
Who runs it. Latvia's State Border Guard, with the airport's support. The project cost €1,862,587 and was funded by the EU's Internal Security Fund 2014–2020. The airport's announcement does not name the company that built the gates.
What sits alongside it. Since 1 April 2026, travellers from outside the EU are also enrolled in the EU Entry/Exit System on their first trip, which records a passport scan, a facial photo and four fingerprints, according to Riga Airport. That is a separate EU requirement, not part of these gates.
What we don't know. Current throughput, the supplier, and whether the Entry/Exit System has changed how the gates are used.
Live data from the Aerostack register. Status reflects published evidence only. See Our approach for how records are graded.