Václav Havel Airport Prague

Václav Havel Airport Prague
Letiště Václava Havla Praha
IATA: PRGICAO: LKPR
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Letiště Praha
Serves Prague, Czech Republic
Location Ruzyně
Hub for
Focus city for
Elevation AMSL 1,247 ft / 380 m
Coordinates 50°06′29″N 14°16′30″E / 50.108003°N 14.275062°E / 50.108003; 14.275062Coordinates: 50°06′29″N 14°16′30″E / 50.108003°N 14.275062°E / 50.108003; 14.275062
Website prg.aero
Map
PRG

Location within the Czech Republic

Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
06/24 3,715 12,191 Concrete
12/30 3,250 10,665 Concrete
04/22 2,120 6,955 Asphaltic concrete
Helipads
Number Length Surface
m ft
H2 11.2 37 Asphalt
H3 11.2 37 Asphalt
H4 11.2 37 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Passengers 12,030,928[1]
Passenger change 14–15 Increase7.9%
Cargo 50,595,299 kg
Aircraft movements 128,018[2]
Source: Czech AIP at EUROCONTROL[3]

Václav Havel Airport Prague (Czech: Letiště Václava Havla Praha), formerly Prague Ruzyně International Airport (Czech: Mezinárodní letiště Praha-Ruzyně, Czech pronunciation: [ˈpraɦa ˈrʊzɪɲɛ]), (IATA: PRG, ICAO: LKPR), is the international airport of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. It is located 10 kilometres (6 mi) west[3] of the city centre and is, with over 11 million passengers in 2014, the busiest airport in the newer EU member states. It serves as a hub for Czech Airlines as well as a base for Travel Service including its subsidiary brand SmartWings, and is also a base for low-cost carriers Wizz Air and Ryanair. The airport is able to handle wide-body aircraft including the Airbus A380.

History

Old control tower built in 1937 (rear view) – now part of Terminal 4
Old control tower (front view) during the visit of Dwight D. Eisenhower to Prague on 12 October 1945

Prague–Ruzyně Airport began operations on 5 April 1937, but Czechoslovak civil aviation history started at the military airport in Prague–Kbely in 1919. The Prague Aviation Museum is now found at Kbely Airport.

Due to insufficient capacity of the Kbely airport in the middle of the 1930s, the Government decided to develop a new State Civil Airport in Ruzyně. One of the major awards Prague Ruzyně Airport received include Diploma and Gold Medal granted in 1937 at the occasion of the International Art and Technical Exhibition in Paris (Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne also known as Paris 1937 World's Fair) for the technical conception of the central airport, primarily the architecture of the check-in building (nowadays known as Terminal 4) designed by architect Ing. A. Beneš.

Other awards were granted for modernisation during individual airport development phases. All these facts have been increasing the interest of carriers in using Prague airport. In one of the most dramatic moments in its history, the airport was seized by Soviet paratroopers on the night of 20–21 August 1968, who then facilitated the landing of Soviet troops and transports for the invasion of Czechoslovakia.

The airport has an excellent location with respect both to its short distance from the centre of Prague and within the European area. Moreover, the Ruzyně fields provide opportunities for further expansion of the airport according to the increasing capacity demand. The airport serves as a hub of the trans-European airport network.

The political and economic changes affected the seventy years of existence of Prague–Ruzyně Airport. Some new air transportation companies and institutions were founded and some ceased operation since then. Ten entities have been responsible for airport administration over time, including the new construction and development. Until the 1990s, there were two or three-decade gaps before the major modernisation of Prague–Ruzyně Airport began to match the current capacity requirements.

The airport stood in for Miami International Airport in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale.

An online petition organised by one of the best-known Slovak film directors, Fero Fenič, calling on the government and the Parliament to rename Prague Ruzyně Airport to Václav Havel International Airport attracted – in just one week after 20 December 2011 – the support of over 65,000 signatories both within and outside the Czech Republic.[4] A rendition of the airport with the proposed Václav Havel name in the form of his signature followed by his typical heart symbol suffix was included in the blog's article in support of renaming of the airport.[5] This name change took place on 5 October 2012 on what would have been Havel's 76th birthday. However, the PRG name of the airport for IATA and ICAO will remain the same.

Further development

As the capacity of the airport has been reaching its limit for the last couple of years (as of 2005), further development of the airport is being considered. Besides regular repairs of the existing runways, Prague Airport (Czech: Letiště Praha s.p.) began the preparations for building a new runway, parallel to the 06/24 runway. The construction with estimated costs of CZK 5–7 billion was scheduled to begin in 2007, and the new runway marked 06R/24L (also called the BIS runway) was to be put into service in 2010. However, because of plenty of legal problems and protests of people who live close to the airport premises, the construction has not yet begun. Despite these problems, the project has support from the government, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2014. [6]

It will be over 3,500 metres (11,483 ft) long. Located about 1,500 metres (4,921 ft) southeast of the present main runway, the 24L runway will be equipped with a category III ILS, allowing landing and taking off under bad weather conditions.

Prague Airport states that besides increasing the airport capacity, the new runway system will greatly reduce the noise level in some densely inhabited areas of Prague. This should be achieved by reorganising the air traffic space around the airport, and shifting the traffic corridors after putting the two parallel runways into service. The vision of heavy traffic raised many protests from the suburban communities directly surrounding the airport. On 6 November 2004, local referenda were held in two Prague suburbs – Nebušice and Přední Kopanina – giving official support to the local authorities for active opposition against the construction of the parallel runway.

The construction of a railway connection between the airport and Prague city centre is also in the planning stage. The track will be served by express trains with special fares, connecting non-stop the airport with the city centre, and local trains fully integrated into Prague integrated transit system.[7]

General runway reconstruction

The main runway 06/24 was reconstructed from 2012 - 2013 due to poor technical conditions. During reconstruction, runway 12/30 was the only usable runway as runway 04/22 is closed permanently. The runway reconstruction was originally planned for three stages. The first stage in 2012, the second stage in 2013 and the last stage in 2014. However, runway 12/30 (which would be used during the reconstruction of the main runway) is not equipped for low visibility landings as it offers only ILS CAT I landings. In addition, the approach path of runway 12/30 goes above high density population areas (such as Kladno and Prague 6). Therefore, the second and the third stage of the runway reconstruction had to be merged so the works could be finished in 2013.

Infrastructure

Terminals

Terminal 1 of Prague Airport
Terminal 2 of Prague Airport

Prague Airport has two main passenger terminals, two general aviation terminals, as well as a cargo facility. Most flights depart Prague Airport from the North Terminals (Terminal 1 and 2). The South Terminals (Terminal 3 and 4) handle a few irregular flights, as well as VIP flights, special flights and small aircraft.

There are also two freight terminals, Cargo Terminal 1 is operated by Menzies Aviation Czech while Cargo Terminal 2 is operated by Skyport.

Runways

The airport contains two runways in service: 06/24 (till April 1993 07/25) and 12/30 (till May 2012 13/31). Former runway 04/22 is permanently closed for take-offs and landings and is used for taxiing and parking only. The most used runway is 24 due to the prevailing western winds. Runway 30 is also used often. Runway 06 is used rarely, while runway 12 is used only exceptionally.

Operations

The company operating the airport is Prague Airport (Letiště Praha, a. s.), a joint-stock company that has one shareholder, the Ministry of Finance. The company was founded in February 2008, as part of a privatisation process involving the Airport Prague (Správa Letiště Praha, s.p.) state enterprise. This action was in accordance with the Czech Republic Government Memorandum Nr. 888, which had been passed on 9 July 2008. On 1 December 2008, Prague Airport took all rights and duties formerly held by Správa Letiště Praha, s.p., and Prague Airports took all business authorisations, certificates, employees, and licenses from the former company.[8] The head office of Prague Airport is in Prague 6.[9] The former state-owned enterprise had its head office on the airport property.[10][11]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinationsTerminal
Adria Airways Ljubljana 2
Aegean Airlines Athens 2
Aer Lingus Dublin 1
Aeroflot Moscow–Sheremetyevo 1
Aeroflot
operated by Rossiya Airlines
Saint Petersburg 1
Air Baltic Riga 2
Air Berlin Berlin-Tegel 2
Air Cairo Marsa Alam, Hurghada[12] 1
Air Canada Rouge Seasonal: Toronto–Pearson 1
Air France Lyon, Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Seasonal: Marseille, Toulouse
2
Air Malta Seasonal: Malta 2
Air Serbia Belgrade 1
Air Transat Seasonal: Montréal–Trudeau, Toronto–Pearson[13] 1
Austrian Airlines Vienna 2
Alitalia Rome–Fiumicino 2
Azerbaijan Airlines Baku 1
Belavia Minsk 1
British Airways London–Heathrow 1
Brussels Airlines Brussels 2
Bulgaria Air Sofia 1
Bulgarian Air Charter Seasonal charter: Burgas, Varna 1
China Eastern Airlines Shanghai–Pudong 1
Croatia Airlines Zagreb 1
Czech Airlines Birmingham, Bucharest, Kazan,[14] Kiev–Boryspil, Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Odessa, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Seoul-Incheon, Skopje, St Petersburg, Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion, Ufa, Yekaterinburg, Zagreb
Seasonal: Almaty, Beirut, Riyadh, Yerevan
1
Czech Airlines Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bratislava, Billund, Bologna, Brussels, Budapest, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Friedrichshafen, Gothenburg, Hamburg, Helsinki, Kosice, Madrid, Milan–Malpensa, Nice, Oslo-Gardermoen, Ostrava, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Rome–Fiumicino, Stockholm–Arlanda, Strasbourg, Venice-Marco Polo, Warsaw–Chopin,
Seasonal: Bilbao, Hévíz–Balaton, Malta, Pisa,[15] Porto, Stavanger, Kristiansand, Linköping, Växjö, Verona (begins 28 March 2017)[16]
2
Delta Air Lines Seasonal: New York–JFK 1
easyJet Bristol, Edinburgh, London-Gatwick, London–Stansted, Manchester 1
easyJet Amsterdam, Milan–Malpensa, Naples, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Venice-Marco Polo[17] 2
easyJet Switzerland Basel/Mulhouse 2
Emirates Dubai-International 1
Enter Air Seasonal charter: Catania, Funchal, Madrid, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Tirana 2
Eurowings Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg 2
Eurowings
operated by Germanwings
Cologne/Bonn 2
Finnair Helsinki 2
FlyDubai Dubai-International[18] 1
Hainan Airlines Beijing-Capital 1
Iberia Madrid 2
Jet2.com Glasgow, Leeds/Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Nottingham/East Midlands 1
KLM
operated by KLM Cityhopper
Amsterdam 2
Korean Air Seoul–Incheon 1
LOT Polish Airlines Warsaw–Chopin 2
Lufthansa Frankfurt 2
Lufthansa Regional
operated by Lufthansa CityLine
Munich 2
Luxair Luxembourg[19] 2
Norwegian Air Shuttle Bergen, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo–Gardermoen, Stockholm–Arlanda, Stavanger[20] 2
Pegasus AirlinesIstanbul-Sabiha Gökçen[21] 1
Ryanair Dublin, Liverpool (begins 26 March 2017),[22] London-Stansted 1
Ryanair Bergamo,[23] Charleroi, Rome-Ciampino,[24] Trapani (begins 28 March 2017)[25] 2
S7 Airlines Novosibirsk 1
Scandinavian Airlines Copenhagen, Oslo–Gardermoen, Stockholm–Arlanda 2
Sichuan Airlines Chengdu[26] 1
SmartWings
operated by Travel Service
London-Gatwick,[27] Moscow-Sheremetyevo, Oujda, Tel Aviv–Ben Gurion
Seasonal: Antalya, Burgas, Djerba,[28] Dubrovnik, Larnaca, Monastir, Podgorica, Split, Tirana, Varna
1
SmartWings
operated by Travel Service
Barcelona, Dubai-International, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Palma de Mallorca, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Rome–Fiumicino
Seasonal: Ajaccio, Alghero, Alicante, Bilbao, Cagliari, Catania, Chania, Corfu, Faro,[12] Funchal,[12] Girona, Heraklion, Ibiza, Karpathos, Kavala, Kos, Lamezia Terme, Lemnos, Lyon, Málaga, Naples, Olbia, Preveza, Rhodes, Rimini, Samos,[12] Seville, Thessaloniki, Tenerife–South, Valencia, Zakynthos, Skiathos
2
Sprint Air Radom 2
Swiss International Air Lines Geneva 2
Swiss International Air Lines
operated by Swiss Global Air Lines
Zürich 2
TAP Portugal Lisbon 2
TAROM Bucharest 1
Transavia Eindhoven 2
Transavia France Paris-Orly 2
Travel Service Seasonal charter: Agadir, Antalya, Aqaba, Bodrum, Burgas, Dubai-World Central, Goa, Hurghada, Las Vegas, Marsa Alam, Mombasa, Monastir, Orlando–International, Salalah, Sharm el-Sheikh, Sochi, Split, Tel Aviv–Ben Gurion, Tunis, Varna, Zanzibar 1
Travel Service Seasonal charter: Corfu, Girona, Heraklion, Paphos, Preveza, Rhodes, Tenerife–South 2
Tunisair Seasonal: Tunis 1
Turkish Airlines Istanbul–Atatürk 1
Ukraine International Airlines Kiev–Boryspil 1
Up
operated by El Al
Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion 1
Ural Airlines Yekaterinburg 1
Volotea Bordeaux, Nantes, Venice-Marco Polo[12]
Seasonal: Marseille,[29] Toulouse[30]
2
Vueling Barcelona, Paris-Charles de Gaulle,[31] Rome-Fiumicino, Zürich (begins 2 June 2017) 2
Wizz Air London–Luton, Tel Aviv–Ben Gurion[32] 1
Wizz Air Bari, Bergamo, Naples, Rome-Ciampino, Treviso 2
Yakutia Airlines Krasnodar 1

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
ASL Airlines Belgium Brno, Katowice, Liège
ASL Airlines Ireland Paris–Charles de Gaulle
China Airlines Cargo Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Luxembourg, Taipei–Taoyuan
Czech Airlines Belgrade, Chișinău, Sofia
Czech Airlines
operated by Genex
Minsk–National
UPS Airlines
operated by ASL Airlines Switzerland
Cologne/Bonn
Qatar Airways Cargo Doha, Budapest

Statistics

Annual passenger numbers

View on pier B (Terminal 1) and C (Terminal 2)
Emirates Airbus A380 regularly operates a scheduled service from Dubai to Prague
Year
Passengers
handled[lower-alpha 1]
Passenger
% Change
Cargo
(tonnes)
Cargo
% Change
2001[33]6,098,742 29,571
2002[34]6,314,653Increase34,829Increase
2003[35]7,463,120Increase41,440Increase
2004[33]9,696,413Increase46,885Increase
2005[33]10,777,020Increase46,002Decrease
2006[36]11,581,511Increase7.4654,972Increase6.27
2007[37]12,436,254Increase7.3855,179Increase0.38
2008[38]12,630,557Increase1.5647,870Decrease-13.25
2009[39]11 643 366Decrease-7.8242,476Decrease-11.27
2010[40]11,556,858Decrease-0.7458,275Increase37.19
2011[41]11,788,629Increase2.0162,688Increase7.57
2012[42]10,807,890Decrease-8.3252,977Decrease-15.49
2013[43]10,974,196Increase1.5451,902Decrease-2.03
2014[44]11,149,926Increase1.6050,897Decrease-1.93
2015[45]12,030,928Increase7.9050,595Decrease-0.59

It was the 40th busiest airport in Europe in 2015.

Busiest routes

The top 15 destinations in 2015 were:[46]

Rank Airport Passengers handled
1 France Paris–Charles de Gaulle 650,244
2 Russia Moscow–Sheremetyevo 580,739
3 Germany Frankfurt 554,017
4 Netherlands Amsterdam Schiphol 521,601
5 United Kingdom London–Heathrow 448,595
6 Italy Rome–Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci 357,331
7 United Kingdom London-Stansted 334,131
8 United Arab Emirates Dubai 331,790
9 Israel Tel Aviv 316,938
10 Belgium Brussels 276,098
11 Italy Milan-Malpensa 265,277
12 United Kingdom London-Gatwick 235,854
13 Turkey Istanbul Atatürk 243,574
14 Spain Barcelona 225,930
15 Finland Helsinki 221,239
Rank Country 2011 Passengers
1Germany Germany 1,162,114 passengers
2United Kingdom United Kingdom 1,138,899 passengers
3France France 1,017,899 passengers
4Italy Italy 872,933 passengers
5Russia Russia 856,849 passengers

Other facilities

APC Building, the head office of Czech Airlines at Prague Airport

Czech Airlines has its head office, the APC Building,[47] on the grounds of Prague Airport.[48] On 30 December 2009 CSA announced that it will sell its head office to the airport for CZK 607 million.[49]

Travel Service Airlines and its low cost subsidiary Smart Wings have their head office on the airport property.[50][51]

In addition the Civil Aviation Authority also has its head office on the airport property.[52]

Ground transportation

Buses of DPP, the Prague Public Transit Co., stop at both terminals 1 and 2 frequently:

Schedules can be found online on spojeni.dpp.cz. Ticket purchased in advance (kiosk in arrival hall or vending machine at bus stop) costs 32 CZK (90-min validity with unlimited number of transfers), ticket purchased at bus driver is 40 CZK. Alternatively, there is also 30-min ticket for 24 CZK, 24-hours ticket for 110 CZK and 72-hours ticket for 310 CZK.

A Czech Railways public bus service, AE – AiportExpress, connects Terminals 1 and 2 with Praha hlavní nádraží every 30 minutes (5:30-21:00, ticket at driver 60 CZK). The journey takes 30 to 50 minutes.

From bus station in front of Terminal 1 there are also regular buses to Kladno, intercity buses of Regiojet run every 30–60 minutes to Karlovy Vary and Cheb.

Accidents and incidents

See also

Notes

  1. Number of passengers including domestic, international and transit

References

  1. http://www.prg.aero/en/business-section/aviation-business/statistics-and-reports/prague-airport-traffic-reports/
  2. http://www.prg.aero/en/prague-airport/press-center/press-releases/vaclav-havel-airport-prague-exceeds-12-million-passengers-handled-a-year//
  3. 1 2 EAD Basic. Ead.eurocontrol.int.
  4. "Petition to name the Prague – Ruzyne airport Václav Havel International Airport". Retrieved 27 December 2011.
  5. "Václav Havel International Airport". Retrieved 27 December 2011.
  6. "Parallel runway". Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  7. Petr Švec, "Letištní expres: cesta za 120 korun" in Mladá fronta DNES, 12 February 2009
  8. "About Airport." Prague Airport. Retrieved on 25 February 2012.
  9. "Contacts." Prague Airport. Retrieved on 25 February 2012. "Letiště Praha, a. s. K Letišti 6/1019, 160 08 Praha 6"
  10. "Basic Information." Prague Airport. 14 August 2006. Retrieved on 25 February 2012. "Airport Operator: Airport Prague Its office registered at: Prague – Ruzyne Airport, 160 08 Prague 6"
  11. "ZÁKLADNÍ INFORMACE." Prague Airport. 29 August 2006. Retrieved on 25 February 2012. "Provozovatel letiště: Letiště Praha s.p. Letiště Praha – Ruzyně, 160 08 Praha 6"
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "New destinations and carriers". prg.aero.
  13. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/transat-introduces-european-destination-prague-132500311.html;_ylt=A2KLOzItWVBSDXwAuA7QtDMD
  14. L, J (3 February 2016). "CSA Czech Airlines Adds Kazan Service from late-April 2016". Airline Route. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  15. http://airlineroute.net/2015/11/18/ok-s16update2/
  16. http://www.travelquotidiano.com/trasporti/czech-airlines-aggiunge-verona-al-network-da-praga/tqid-263655
  17. http://airlineroute.net/2015/10/09/u2-vce-w15/
  18. Drum, Bruce (3 October 2014). "Flydubai is coming to Bratislava, Prague and Sofia". WorldAirlineNews.com. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  19. http://airlineroute.net/2015/10/23/lg-prg-s16/
  20. http://www.prg.aero/cs/aktuality/aktuality/norwegian-spoji-prahu-se-stavangerem/
  21. Milan Hnátek. "Pegasus ještě nezačal létat a již vyvolal rozruch". ČeskoTurecko.cz. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  22. http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/268681/ryanair-expands-prague-routes-in-s17/
  23. "Ryanair W16 Milan / Rome Operation Changes". airlineroute. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  24. http://airlineroute.net/2016/02/09/fr-milrom-w16/
  25. http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/268479/ryanair-plans-new-italian-routes-in-s17/
  26. "Sichuan Airlines Scheduled Prague Service form Aug 2016". routesonline. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  27. "SmartWings starts a new regular connection between Prague and London (Gatwick)". SmartWings. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  28. http://airlineroute.net/2016/04/22/qs-s16update2/
  29. http://airlineroute.net/2015/10/06/v7-s16/
  30. http://airlineroute.net/2015/10/20/v7-s16update2/
  31. http://airlineroute.net/2015/09/23/vy-cdg-may16/
  32. "Wizz Air timetable". Wizz Air.
  33. 1 2 3 Prague Airport Traffic Report 2005
  34. 2002
  35. Prague Airport Traffic Report 2003
  36. Prague Airport Traffic Report 2006
  37. Prague Airport Traffic Report 2007
  38. Prague Airport Traffic Report 2008
  39. Prague Airport Traffic Report 2009
  40. Prague Airport Traffic Report 2010
  41. Prague Airport Traffic Report 2011
  42. Prague Airport Traffic Report 2012
  43. Prague Airport Traffic Report 2013
  44. Prague Airport Traffic Report December 2014
  45. Prague Airport Traffic Report December 2015
  46. "TR15" (PDF).
  47. "The Settlement of Land Relations between Czech Airlines and the Prague Airport Authority to Increase the Value of Both Companies Prior to their Privatisation." Czech Airlines. 22 August 2008. Retrieved on 15 February 2010.
  48. "Imprint." Czech Airlines. Retrieved on 4 February 2010. "Letiště Ruzyně Prague 6 160 08 Czech republic"
  49. Heijmans, Philip. "Czech Airlines sells headquarters to Prague Airport." The Prague Post. 6 January 2010. Retrieved on 31 January 2014.
  50. "Contacts." Travel Service Airlines. Retrieved on 14 November 2011. "Travel Service, a. s. K Letišti 1068/30 160 08 Prague 6 Czech Republic"
  51. "Contact." Smart Wings. Retrieved on 19 February 2012. "Office at Prague airport K letisti 1068/30 160 08 Praha 6 Czech Republic"
  52. Home page. Civil Aviation Authority. Retrieved on 25 February 2012. "Postal and visitor's address: Civil Aviation Authority Czech Republic Václav Havel Airport Prague 160 08 Praha 6"
  53. PlaneCrashInfo.com. PlaneCrashInfo.com (23 October 1975).
  54. "2 Czech Youths Hijack Jetliner to West Germany". Los Angeles Times. 30 March 1989. Retrieved 19 August 2010.

External links

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