Václav Havel Airport Prague Continues to Grow Investments of 27 Billion CZK Planned over Next Decade

Prague Airport has published its vision of the airport's development over the next decade on the occasion of celebrating the 80th anniversary of the launch of its operations. Key strategic projects including the development of terminals and adjacent areas for aircraft, increases in the capacity of the runway system, changes to the public area in front of the terminal buildings and development plans for the greater airport area have been introduced. Implementation of the plans will allow the airport to handle 21 million passengers a year. Prague Airport plans to invest in the most important projects, namely extensions to Terminal 2 and the construction of a new parallel runway, about CZK 27 billion (1 billion EUR).

The importance and use of air transport for the carriage of passengers continues to increase. According to current forecasts, the volume of air transport in Europe will double over the next 20 years. On average, Czechs now make 0.58 foreign trips a year - 40% by air. However, thanks to increasing living standards, it can be expected that in 20 years the figure will reach 1.24 trips per person a year. In the context of overall air transport growth, the capacity demands on Václav Havel Airport Prague will increase significantly.

The current forecast predicts a 3.4% average year-on-year growth of passengers over the next 20 years. To ensure that Václav Havel Airport Prague keeps up with airports in other developed countries and is able to satisfy passenger demand for air travel, it is necessary to ensure its growth at market level. "We grow carefully based on the growth of passengers. Five million more people than we handle now means that we have to increase capacity everywhere - from parking spaces, check-in, the runway system to services. Therefore, working with renowned international consultancy firms, we have drafted development studies which will allow us to implement the growth in stages," Václav Řehoř, Chairman of the Prague Airport Board of Directors, explained.

On the long-term horizon, Prague Airport plans extensions to Terminal 2 spread over several stages. It will become the main handling area for both passengers and their baggage, where everyone will pass through one central security control. "We have a clear idea of what the options of increasing airport capacity are and we are ready to invest in its development. Based on the current state of the market, we estimate that we will invest, on the mid-term horizon, in the Terminal extension and parallel runway construction around 27 billion Czech crowns. This will allow us to handle up to 21 million passengers a year. However, we can look even further into the future, at visions for future generations which will allow the increasing of the capacity to 28 million passengers a year," Řehoř added.

Until then, it is necessary to facilitate partial capacity increases using the existing space. Last year, Václav Havel Airport Prague handled a record 13 million passengers. This year, the number will be 8% higher, whereas the current maximum capacity of the airport is around 15 million passengers a year. "Already this year, we have started implementing certain measures which will help us increase the capacity of the existing terminal building and runway system. Until 2020, we plan to invest 2.3 billion Czech crowns in increases to the number of check-in aisles, check-in desks and security control posts. These steps will help increase the Terminal capacity to 17 million passengers. The number of take-offs and landings performed on the main runway can then be increased by speed turns which will allow aircraft to exit the runway early," Řehoř said.

Concurrently, the airport is focusing on projects leading to improvements to the airport ground access system, parking options and the use of the public area in front of Terminals. This year, using a new urban concept of the greater airport area, the airport wants to develop these projects into a building plan which will provide a more precise idea of the future construction and changes to airport public areas.

Interesting facts:

Comparisons of the capacity available within the Terminal 2 final concept with the present state:

• A space for up to 7 check-in aisles with up to 168 check-in desks will be created (compared to the existing 60).
• A central security control post will be created (throughput of up to 5,500 people an hour).
• The number of aircraft stands will be increased (today 50, at the end-phase up to 75 with 18 large-capacity aircraft stands - compared to the existing 4).
• Airport will get combined stands with the option of either handling 1 large or 2 small aircraft.