Passenger numbers at Prague Airport drop by nearly 80 percent

The number of passengers going through Prague’s Václav Havel Airport dropped by nearly 80 percent last year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, suggests the airport’s end-of-year report. The number of flights decreased by 65 percent.

The total number of passengers passing through the Václav Havel Airport Prague last year was 3,665 million, which is 79 percent fewer than in the previous year. It is also the lowest figure in the past 25 years.

"The operation of the airport was significantly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and the related travel restrictions, which resulted in a global drop of demand for air travel," its spokeswoman Kateřina Pavlíková wrote in the report.

The number of flights in and out of the airport stood at 54,163, which represents a drop by 65 percent on the year 2019.
The busiest month last year was January, with 1,051 028 passengers cleared. According to Ms Pavlíková, it was also the highest figure for the month in the history of the airport.

"The highest number of passengers passed through the airport on Friday, January 3, 2020, reaching 49,387," she says, adding that the month of February was also very busy.

The two record months were followed by an unprecedented slump in passenger numbers. During the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, passenger numbers dropped by 99 percent. In July and August, when travel restrictions were temporarily lifted, the airport handled around 600,000 passengers.

The highest number of regular flights were directed to Great Britain, Frane, Italy, Russia and Spain. London continued to by the most popular destination, followed by Amsterdam, Paris, Moscow and Frankfurt.

The airpot also recorded significant economic losses. According to earlier figures, its operating losses amounted to CZK 100 million a month. Due to the limited service, the airport laid off around 600 employees last year.