Václav Havel Airport Plans More Direct Flights to US, Asian Destinations

At 7.5 million passengers, the main Prague airport saw a 10% increase in the amount of traffic over the first half of 2018. An estimated 17 million travellers will pass through Václav Havel Airport over the course of 2018.

The increase in passengers served has been credited to both increased capacity on existing lines, and new routes servicing international destinations like Philadelphia.

“Our efforts will also concentrate on increasing direct connections to destinations in North America,” Pacvoň told AIN. Those destinations include Chicago, Los Angeles, and additional flights to New York.

It isn’t only North America that Václav Havel Airport will focus on servicing.

Lending to a huge increase in traffic between Prague and Asian destinations in recent years, the airport plans on developing new long-haul connection centers in cities like Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Taipei, and increasing charter traffic to destinations like Tokyo and Hanoi.

In preparation for the additional long-haul flights, the airport is developing a new stand to service larger widebody planes with wingspans up to 65 meters. Next year, the airport will open two new gates and 24 new check-in desks in Terminal 2, and 10 new check-in desks in Terminal 1.

While developing those new long-haul routes may take time, the Prague airport is already unveiling new direct flights to some closer destinations as early as this winter.

Those include new Ryanair routes to Marrakesh, Beauvais–Tillé, Eilat, Pisa, and Amman, and a new EasyJet service to Belfast.

If approved, the new developments at Václav Havel Airport are expected to increase airport capacity to service up to 21 million passengers per year.