Prague Airport’s operational performance in the first half of 2009

Overall, during the first six months 5,133,787 passengers arrived at or departed from the Prague/Ruzyně airport. This is 13.5% less than in the same period of the record-breaking last year. The number of movements, i.e. take-offs and landings, decreased at a slower pace; as of 30 June the number was 79,107, which is 9.5% less than last year. 26 June was the record-breaking day of the first half-year, with a total of 45,392 checked-in passengers. The most frequent destinations were the biggest European airports – Paris, followed by Frankfurt and London.

“With the arrival of summer months we have noticed further improvement, and we keep expecting a slower decline in the development of our operational performance,” said Jiří Pos, Prague Airport’s Director of air commerce, operations and asset management. He also added: “Above all, in the first quarter – in connection with the negative economic development – there were reductions in the number of flights and the seating capacity of airlines. This trend was evident especially in low-cost and charter carriers. While the number of passengers on network carrier flights has dropped by 11.5% throughout the year, there was a decrease of 16% on low-cost airline flights, and as much as 19.5% on charter flights.”

Prague Airport has seen an increase in the proportion of transfer passengers in the first half-year. Passengers who used the Prague Airport for a transfer to connecting flights amounted to 20.5% of the overall number of departing passengers (18.5% in 2008).

In the first half of 2009, the most passengers were transported on lines to the United Kingdom (681,721), Germany (488,022) and Italy (426,801 passengers). A significant yearly increase in passenger volume by more than 17% was noticed for flights to Turkey and Israel (by 8.4%). The most popular destinations were, traditionally, Paris/Charles de Gaulle with 240,733 passengers, followed by Frankfurt (203,557) and London/Heathrow (198,928). The imaginary top five of holiday destinations now includes three Egyptian resorts – Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh and Taba, plus Antalya in Turkey and Tel Aviv in Israel.

(c) Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Date posted: 5-Aug-09