Latvia Air Navigation Charges 2025-2029: What Changes for Airlines

Key data

Airlines operating in Latvian airspace now have certainty about the air navigation cost framework for the period 2025-2029. Commission Decision (EU) 2026/1031, adopted by the European Commission on 23 April 2026 and published on 18 May 2026, declares the objectives of Latvia's revised plan consistent with objectives at European Union level for the fourth reference period of the Single European Sky system.

This approval is not a minor formality: it enables Latvia to implement its performance plan and, with it, the associated route charges. Any airline crossing Latvian airspace pays air navigation charges calculated on the basis of that plan. With the decision approved, that framework is fixed until 2029.

What does this regulation establish?

The decision is part of the performance evaluation and pricing system of the Single European Sky, regulated by Regulation (EC) No 549/2004. Under this system, each Member State must submit a performance plan with specific objectives in four areas, which the Commission evaluates to check their consistency with European objectives.

The four pillars covered by Latvia's performance plan for 2025-2029 are:

• Safety: safety management standards in air traffic control services.
• Environment: environmental efficiency of managed air routes.
• Capacity: demand management and reduction of delays attributable to air traffic control.
• Cost-effectiveness: determined costs of air navigation services, which are the basis for calculating route charges.

Latvia submitted a revised draft of its performance plan, indicating that there was a previous version that was revised before receiving final Commission approval. The decision declares that revised plan consistent with objectives at EU level, allowing its effective implementation.

Economic and operational impact

The approval of the performance plan has direct economic consequences for two types of actors:

For air navigation service providers in Latvia (mainly LGS — Latvia Gaisa Satiksme), the decision validates their cost structure and allows them to apply the route charges provided for in the plan for the period 2025-2029. This provides financial and operational stability to the provider for four years.

For airlines operating in Latvian airspace, the impact is in the form of air navigation route charges. These charges are calculated by multiplying the unit route charge (set in the performance plan) by the service units corresponding to each flight, which depend on the distance traveled and the weight of the aircraft.

The regulatory certainty provided by this decision allows airlines to:

• Plan operating costs on routes crossing Latvian airspace for 2025-2029.
• Incorporate route charges into their ticket pricing models.
• Evaluate the profitability of routes with stops or overflights of Latvia with greater precision.

Who does it affect?

• Airlines with routes overflying Latvia: any air operator crossing Latvian airspace pays route charges calculated on the basis of the approved plan.
• Airlines with operations at Latvian airports (Riga and others): in addition to route charges, they may be affected by the capacity and cost-effectiveness objectives of the plan.
• Air navigation service providers in Latvia: are enabled to apply the planned charges and must meet performance objectives in the four areas during 2025-2029.
• Chief financial officers and operations managers of airlines with presence in Eastern Europe: must incorporate this tariff framework into their cost projections.
• Advisors and consultants in the civil aviation sector working with clients operating in Baltic airspace.

Practical example

A low-cost airline operating routes between Western Europe and the Baltic countries and regularly crossing Latvian airspace has to pay air navigation route charges to LGS for each flight. These charges are calculated based on the unit route charge set in the approved performance plan and the service units of each flight.

With the approval of Decision (EU) 2026/1031, that airline knows that the tariff framework applicable in Latvian airspace is fixed and consistent with European standards for the entire period 2025-2029. This allows it, for example, to calculate more precisely the total cost of operating a Madrid-Riga route over the next four years, without uncertainty about whether Latvia's performance plan could be rejected or modified by the Commission.

If the plan had been declared inconsistent, Latvia would have had to revise its objectives and charges, creating uncertainty about applicable navigation costs until a new plan was approved.

What should companies do now?

1. Airlines with routes over Latvia: review the air navigation route charges applicable in Latvian airspace for 2025-2029 and update operating cost models with the already approved tariff framework.
2. Airline financial managers: incorporate into the profitability projections of Baltic routes the fact that Latvian route charges are fixed under a performance plan approved by the European Commission until 2029.
3. Air navigation service providers in Latvia: verify that the application of route charges is carried out in accordance with the approved revised performance plan, and prepare monitoring mechanisms for objectives in the four areas (safety, environment, capacity and cost-effectiveness).
4. Consultants and advisors in the sector: update analyses of operating costs in Baltic airspace to reflect the approval of this plan and its validity until 2029.
5. Regulatory monitoring: monitor whether other Member States in the Baltic region (Estonia, Lithuania) have similar decisions pending for the same reference period, as they affect the same routes.