Number of Checked Passengers at Václav Havel Airport Prague Grew by Nearly 18% Last Year

In 2017, as per the Prague Airport 2017 operating results, Václav Havel Airport Prague handled a total of 15,415,001 passengers, which represents a 17.9% growth compared to 2016. The airport has thus confirmed its status of one of the fastest growing airports in its category of airports in Europe handling 10-25 million passengers a year.

Václav Havel Airport Prague has experienced another record year in 2017, when nearly 15.5 million handled passengers passed through its gates and a total of 148,283 take-offs and landings were performed there. July, with 1,703,193 handled passengers, was the most successful month. Last year, on average, 42,233 passengers passed through the airport each day.

“The growth in the number of passengers handled in 2017 is exceptional, exceeding the pan-European average. In comparison with the European results we currently have at our disposal, just in the period from January to November 2017, Václav Havel Airport Prague reached an 18.4% growth in the number of handled passengers during the respective months, while the pan-European average was an 8.7% growth,” Václav Řehoř, Prague Airport Chairman of the Board of Directors, said. Final 2017 results for the whole of Europe will be available in the next few weeks.

When compared with the results of the last five years, for the first time, the growth in the number of handled passengers at Václav Havel Airport Prague recorded in 2017 has amounted to a two-digit figure.

“The repeated growth in the number of handled passengers was supported by the arrival of new carriers at Václav Havel Airport Prague, launches of new routes and capacity increases on the existing connections. In general, the growth is owed to greater readiness of people to spend more money on their travels on one hand and to the growing availability of air travel on the other,” Václav Řehoř added. Connections to a total of 16 new destinations were launched from Václav Havel Airport Prague in 2017. There were also two instances of new connections launched to existing destinations, but to different airports (London/City and London/Southend).

A total of 69 regular carriers operated their flights from Václav Havel Airport Prague in 2017, connecting it with 163 destinations. The majority of passengers headed from Prague to European cities and to Afrika, to where a 66% year-on-year growth was recorded mainly thanks to the increased interest in trips to its Northern holiday resorts.

In 2017, the most frequented air connections were between Prague and Great Britain (with up to 15 destinations and +6.61% handled passengers), followed by destinations in Italy (+29.6%), Germany (+8.1%), Russia (+24.56%) and France (+9.02%). 

The busies 2017 destination was, traditionally, London, where, for the first time, flights from Prague landed at all six international airports. Paris, Moscow, Amsterdam and Frankfurt followed in the ranking. The most significant year-on-year growth in the number of handled passengers was recorded by Milan/Bergamo, followed by Hurghada, Moscow, Rome/Ciampino and Marsa Alam.