Prague Airport clears record number of passengers

Photo: Ondřej Tomšů

The number of passengers going through Prague’s Václav Havel Airport exceeded 16 million this year, setting a new record in the airport’s history. According to a press release issued on Wednesday, it is expected to clear 16.8 million passengers by the end of the year.

Photo: Ondřej Tomšů
“Prague airport has seen a record number of passengers for the third consecutive year. For the whole of 2018, we expect to clear 1.4 million passengers more than in the previous year,” Prague airport board chairman Václav Řehoř told the Czech News Agency on Wednesday.

“Passenger numbers are expected to grow by around three to four percent in 2019 and the number of direct air connections will also continue to grow.”

According to Mr. Řehoř, Prague’s Václav Havel Airport is developing faster than other similar-sized airports in Europe. In the third quarter of 2018, the airport recorded a 9.3 percent increase in passenger numbers, compared to the EU average of five percent.

On average, 46,000 passengers passed through the airport’s gates each day. July, with nearly 1.88 million passengers cleared, was the busiest month in the history of the airport. London continues to be the most popular destination. Since January 2018, some 1.28 million people have travelled to the UK capital from Prague airport.

In order to handle the ever growing number of passengers, the airport plans to complete several projects next year, including the opening of new check-in desks at Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 and renovation of two departure halls.

To increase its capacity even further, the airport also plans to extend its Terminal 2 and build a new runway in the years to come.

This winter, Prague’s Václav Havel Airport offers flights to 114 destinations in 42 countries. The highest number of flights are directed to Great Britain and France.