Václav Havel Airport Prague

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Václav Havel Airport Prague
Letiště Václava Havla Praha
250px
PRG Ruzyne airport view 8971b.jpg
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 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Website prg.aero
Map
PRG is located in Czech Republic
PRG
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 (2014)
Passengers 11,149,926[1]
Passenger growth 13–14 1.60%
Cargo 50,897,792 kg
Source: Czech AIP at EUROCONTROL[2]

Václav Havel Airport Prague (Czech: Letiště Václava Havla Praha), formerly Prague Ruzyně International Airport (Czech: Mezinárodní letiště Praha-Ruzyně, Czech pronunciation: [ˈpraɦa ˈrʊzɪɲɛ]), (IATA: PRGICAO: LKPR), is the international airport of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. It is located 10 kilometres (6 mi) west[2] 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 Airlines including its subsidiary SmartWings, and is also a base for low-cost carrier Wizz Air.

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.[citation needed] All these facts have been increasing the interest of carriers in using Prague airport.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] 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 was used in the James Bond film Casino Royale. The airport, along with a Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340-600, depicts a scene that actually takes place in the film at Miami International Airport.

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.[3] 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.[4] 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

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. As the capacity of the airport has been reaching its limit for the last couple of years (as of 2005),[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] [5]

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.[6]

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.

  • Terminal 1 is used for flights outside the Schengen Area; it was opened in 1997, it includes concourses A and B
  • Terminal 2 is used for flights within the Schengen area; it was opened on 17 January 2006, it includes concourses C and D
  • Terminal 3 is used for private and charter flights; it was opened in 1997
  • Terminal 4 is used exclusively for VIP flights and state visits; it is the oldest part of the airport which was opened on 5 April 1937

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.[7] The head office of Prague Airport is in Prague 6.[8] The former state-owned enterprise had its head office on the airport property.[9][10]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Airlines Destinations Terminal
Adria Airways Ljubljana 2
Aegean Airlines Athens 2
Aer Lingus Dublin 1
Aeroflot Moscow–Sheremetyevo 1
Aeroflot
operated by Rossiya
Saint Petersburg 1
Air Baltic Riga, Vilnius 2
Air Berlin Berlin-Tegel[11] 2
Air Cairo Seasonal: Hurghada[12] 1
Air Canada Rouge Seasonal: Toronto-Pearson (begins 30 May 2016)[13] 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[14] 1
Austrian Airlines Vienna 2
Alitalia Pisa (ends 26 March 2016),[15] Rome–Fiumicino 2
Alitalia
operated by Alitalia CityLiner
Seasonal: Milan-Linate[16] 2
Azerbaijan Airlines Baku 1
Belavia Minsk–National 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 (begins 2 April 2016)[17] 1
Czech Airlines Birmingham (begins 22 April 2016),[18] Bucharest, Edinburgh, Kiev–Boryspil, Liverpool, Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Seoul-Incheon, St Petersburg, Tel Aviv–Ben Gurion, Yekaterinburg,
Seasonal: Almaty,[19] Yerevan
1
Czech Airlines Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bratislava, Billund, Bologna, Brussels, Budapest, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Gdansk (begins 27 March 2016),[20] Gothenburg, Hamburg, Helsinki (begins 3 March 2016),[20] Kosice, Łódź, Madrid, Milan–Malpensa, Nice, Oslo-Gardermoen, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Poznan (begins 27 March 2016),[20] Rome–Fiumicino, Stockholm–Arlanda, Strasbourg, Stuttgart, Venice-Marco Polo, Warsaw–Chopin, Zagreb (begins 27 April 2016)[21]
Seasonal: Bilbao, Hévíz–Balaton, Malta (begins 11 June 2016),[22] Ostrava,[23] Pisa (begins 3 May 2016),[22] Radom,[24] Sarajevo (begins 19 May 2016),[21] Skopje (begins 19 May 2016),[21] Stavanger, Kristiansand, Linköping, Växjö
2
Delta Air Lines Seasonal: New York–JFK 1
easyJet Bristol, Edinburgh, London-Gatwick, London–Stansted 1
easyJet Amsterdam, Milan–Malpensa, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Rome–Fiumicino, Venice-Marco Polo (begins 4 February 2016)[25] 2
easyJet Switzerland Basel/Mulhouse, 2
El Al
under the brand Up
Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion 1
Emirates Dubai-International 1
Enter Air Seasonal: Catania, Funchal, Larnaca, Madrid, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Tirana 2
Eurowings Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg 2
Finnair Helsinki 2
FlyDubai Dubai-International[26] 1
Hainan Airlines Beijing-Capital[27] 1
Iberia Madrid 2
Jet2.com Birmingham, Belfast-International,[12] Edinburgh, Glasgow,[12] 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 (begins 27 March 2016)[28] 2
Norwegian Air Shuttle Copenhagen, Helsinki, London-Gatwick, Oslo–Gardermoen, Stockholm–Arlanda 2
Pegasus Airlines Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen[29] 1
Ryanair Dublin, London-Stansted 1
Ryanair Bremen,[30] Charleroi 2
S7 Airlines Novosibirsk 1
Scandinavian Airlines Copenhagen, Oslo–Gardermoen, Stockholm–Arlanda 2
Sichuan Airlines Chengdu (begins 25 February 2016)[31] 1
Swiss International Air Lines Geneva 2
Swiss International Air Lines
operated by Swiss Global Air Lines
Zürich 2
TAP Portugal Lisbon
Seasonal: Porto
2
TAROM Bucharest 1
Transavia France Paris-Orly 2
Travel Service Seasonal charter: Agadir, Antalya, Aqaba, Bangkok-Don Mueang, Burgas, Djerba, Dubai-World Central, Goa, Hurghada, Las Vegas, Marsa Alam, Mombasa, Monastir, Orlando, Phuket, 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
Travel Service
under the brand SmartWings
London-Gatwick,[32] Moscow-Sheremetyevo,[12] Tel Aviv–Ben Gurion
Seasonal: Antalya, Burgas, Dubrovnik, Larnaca, Monastir, Podgorica,[12] Split, Tirana, Varna
1
Travel Service
under the brand SmartWings
Barcelona , Gran Canaria, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Rome–Fiumicino
Seasonal: Ajaccio (begins 11 May 2016),[33] Alicante, Bilbao, Cagliari, Catania, Chania, Corfu, Faro,[12] Fuerteventura, Funchal,[12] Girona, Heraklion, Ibiza, Karpathos, Kavala, Kos, Lamezia Terme, Lanzarote, Lemnos, Málaga, Mytilene, Naples, Olbia, Palma de Mallorca, Preveza, Rhodes, Samos ,[12] Seville, Thessaloniki, Tenerife–South, Valencia, Zakynthos
2
Tunisair Seasonal: Tunis 1
Turkish Airlines Istanbul–Atatürk 1
Ukraine International Airlines Kiev–Boryspil 1
Ural Airlines Nizhniy Novgorod, Yekaterinburg 1
Volotea Bordeaux, Nantes, Nice, Venice-Marco Polo[12]
Seasonal: Marseille (begins 25 March 2016),[34] Toulouse (begins 25 March 2016)[35]
2
Vueling Barcelona, Brussels, Paris-Charles de Gaulle (begins 5 May 2016),[36] Rome-Fiumicino 2
Wizz Air London–Luton, Tel Aviv–Ben Gurion[37] 1
Wizz Air Bari, Bergamo, Bologna, Naples, Rome–Fiumicino, Treviso 2

Cargo

Airlines Destinations
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
TNT Airways Brno, Katowice, Liège
UPS Airlines
operated by ASL Airlines Switzerland
Cologne/Bonn

Statistics

Annual passenger numbers

Year
Passengers
handled[lower-alpha 1]
Passenger
% Change
Cargo
(tonnes)
Cargo
% Change
2001[38] 6,098,742 29,571
2002[39] 6,314,653 Increase 34,829 Increase
2003[40] 7,463,120 Increase 41,440 Increase
2004[38] 9,696,413 Increase 46,885 Increase
2005[38] 10,777,020 Increase 46,002 Decrease
2006[41] 11,581,511 Increase7.46 54,972 Increase6.27
2007[42] 12,436,254 Increase7.38 55,179 Increase0.38
2008[43] 12,630,557 Increase1.56 47,870 Decrease-13.25
2009[44] 11 643 366 Decrease-7.82 42,476 Decrease-11.27
2010[45] 11,556,858 Decrease-0.74 58,275 Increase37.19
2011[46] 11,788,629 Increase2.01 62,688 Increase7.57
2012[47] 10,807,890 Decrease-8.32 52,977 Decrease-15.49
2013[48] 10,974,196 Increase1.54 51,902 Decrease-2.03
2014[49] 11,149,926 Increase1.60 50,897 Decrease-1.93

It was the 38th busiest airport in Europe in 2014.

Busiest routes

The top 15 destinations in 2013 were:[48]

Rank Airport Passengers handled
1 France Paris–Charles de Gaulle 761,489
2 Russia Moscow–Sheremetyevo 637,566
3 Germany Frankfurt 500,603
4 Netherlands Amsterdam Schiphol 439,914
5 United Kingdom London–Heathrow 412,661
6 Italy Milan 309,216
7 Spain Barcelona 271,762
8 Italy Rome–Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci 262,183
9 Switzerland Zürich 257,802
10 Belgium Brussels 250,118
11 Israel Tel Aviv 236,700
12 Germany Munich 232,501
13 Denmark Copenhagen 220,924
14 United Arab Emirates Dubai 214,046
15 Turkey Antalya 204,762
Rank Country 2011 Passengers
1 Germany Germany 1,162,114 passengers
2 United Kingdom Great Britain 1,138,899 passengers
3 France France 1,017,899 passengers
4 Italy Italy 872,933 passengers
5 Russia 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,[50] on the grounds of Prague Airport.[51] On 30 December 2009 CSA announced that it will sell its head office to the airport for CZK 607 million.[52]

Travel Service Airlines and its low cost subsidiary Smart Wings have their head office on the airport property.[53][54]

In addition the Civil Aviation Authority also has its head office on the airport property.[55]

Ground transportation

Buses of DPP, the Prague Public Transit Co., stop at both terminals every 10 minutes:

  • Bus No. 100 to Metro line B Zličín (18 min). Departures every 12–30 minutes 5:41-23:36.
  • Bus No. 119 to Metro line A Nádraží Veleslavín (17 min). Departures every 5–20 minutes 4:23-23:44.
  • Bus No. 191 to Metro line A Petřiny (24 min) and Metro line B Anděl (48 min). Departures every 24–40 minutes 4:57-23:11.
  • Night bus No. 510 going via Arbesovo náměstí (36 min) and I. P. Pavlova (42 min). Departures from the airport every 30 minutes 23:57-3:57.

A Czech Railways public bus service, AE – AiportExpress, connects Terminals 1 and 2 with Praha hlavní nádraží every 30 minutes. The journey takes 40 to 50 minutes. Some local buses run from Prague to Kladno stop at Terminal 1. Also, Student Agency buses link Terminal 1 with Karlovy Vary.

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/Contents.2/0/0BAB14AFB5EC185C5DC5C3D6DD3BF0C4/resource.pdf
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  6. Petr Švec, "Letištní expres: cesta za 120 korun" in Mladá fronta DNES, 12 February 2009
  7. "About Airport." Prague Airport. Retrieved on 25 February 2012.
  8. "Contacts." Prague Airport. Retrieved on 25 February 2012. "Letiště Praha, a. s. K Letišti 6/1019, 160 08 Praha 6"
  9. "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"
  10. "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"
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  14. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/transat-introduces-european-destination-prague-132500311.html;_ylt=A2KLOzItWVBSDXwAuA7QtDMD
  15. http://www.alitalia.com/it_it
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  38. 38.0 38.1 38.2 Prague Airport Traffic Report 2005
  39. 2002
  40. Prague Airport Traffic Report 2003
  41. Prague Airport Traffic Report 2006
  42. Prague Airport Traffic Report 2007
  43. Prague Airport Traffic Report 2008
  44. Prague Airport Traffic Report 2009
  45. Prague Airport Traffic Report 2010
  46. Prague Airport Traffic Report 2011
  47. Prague Airport Traffic Report 2012
  48. 48.0 48.1 Prague Airport Traffic Report 2013
  49. Prague Airport Traffic Report December 2014
  50. "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.
  51. "Imprint." Czech Airlines. Retrieved on 4 February 2010. "Letiště Ruzyně Prague 6 160 08 Czech republic"
  52. Heijmans, Philip. "Czech Airlines sells headquarters to Prague Airport." The Prague Post. 6 January 2010. Retrieved on 31 January 2014.
  53. "Contacts." Travel Service Airlines. Retrieved on 14 November 2011. "Travel Service, a. s. K Letišti 1068/30 160 08 Prague 6 Czech Republic"
  54. "Contact." Smart Wings. Retrieved on 19 February 2012. "Office at Prague airport K letisti 1068/30 160 08 Praha 6 Czech Republic"
  55. 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"
  56. PlaneCrashInfo.com. PlaneCrashInfo.com (23 October 1975).
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External links

Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons