Prague Ruzyně Airport

Prague Ruzyně International Airport Mezinárodní letiště Praha-Ruzyně
IATA: PRG – ICAO: LKPR
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Letiště Praha
Serves		Prague
Location		Ruzyně district of Prague
Hub for		Czech Airlines Smart Wings Travel Service Wizz Air
Elevation AMSL		1,247 ft / 380 m
Coordinates		50°06′03″N 014°15′36″E
Website		www.PRG.aero
Map
PRG Location within Czech Republic
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
06/24	3,715	12,191	Concrete
13/31	3,250	10,665	Concrete
04/22	2,120	6,955	Asphaltic concrete
Helipads
Number	Length		Surface
	m	ft
H2	11.2	37	Asphalt
H3	11.2	37	Asphalt
H4	11.2	37	Asphalt
Statistics (2009, 2010)
Passengers (2010)			11,643,366
Passenger growth 08–09			−7.8%
Cargo (2009)			47,870,804 kg
Source: Czech AIP at EUROCONTROL

Prague Ruzyně International Airport (Czech: Letiště Praha-Ruzyně, Czech pronunciation: [ˈpraɦa ˈrʊzɪɲɛ], (IATA: PRG, ICAO: LKPR), serves Prague, Czech Republic. Located 10 kilometres (6 mi) west of the city centre, the airport is a hub for Czech Airlines. It was opened on 5 April 1937. Prague-Ruzyně is the biggest airport in the Czech Republic, and with 11.6 million passengers in 2009, the busiest one within the new EU member states. It was named the best airport in Central and Eastern Europe by Skytrax in 2005 and 2007.

Ruzyně today

Most flights depart Ruzyně Airport from the North Terminals (Terminal 1 and 2). The South Terminals (Terminal 3 and 4) handle a few irregular flights, as well as VIP flights, special flights and small aircraft.

The airport contains two runways in service: 06/24 and 13/31. Former runway 04/22 is permanently closed for take-offs and landings and is used for taxiing and parking only. The most used runway is 24 due to the prevailing western winds. Runway 31 is also used often. Runway 06 is used rarely, while runway 13 is used only exceptionally.

Public transport to and from Prague city centre involves taking the bus number 119 to Dejvická metro station, and transferring on to the green metro line (Line A) or tram there, bus number 100 to Zličín metro station (yellow Line B), or number 179 to Nové Butovice station. A typical trip takes about 40 minutes. After midnight when the metro is closed, night bus number 510 runs from the airport, offering 4 transfer points to centre-bound trams en-route.

Since 14 December 2008, the bus line AE (Airport Express) also provides nonstop service between Terminals 1 and 2, and the Prague Main railway station every day from 05:00 to 22:00 H, leaving every half hour.

History

Old control tower built in 1937 (rear view) – now part of Terminal 4

Old control tower (front view) during the visit of Dwight D. Eisenhower in Prague on 12 October 1945

Czechoslovakia belonged, and Czech Republic belongs, to the leading European pioneers of the civil aviation,^{[citation needed]} and became over time a part of the most state-of-the-art continental transportation system. The Prague–Ruzyně Airport began operation on 5 April 1937, but Czechoslovak civil aviation history started at the military airport in Prague–Kbely in 1919. The Prague Aviation Museum is now found at Kbely Airport. Due to insufficient capacity of the Kbely airport in the middle of the 1930s, the Government decided to develop a new State Civil Airport in Ruzyně. One of the major awards the Prague Ruzyně Airport received include Diploma and Gold Medal granted in 1937 at the occasion of the International Art and Technical Exhibition in Paris (Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne also known as Paris 1937 World's Fair) for the technical conception of the central airport, primarily the architecture of check-in building (nowadays known as Terminal 4) designed by architect Ing. A. Beneš. Other awards were granted for modernization during individual airport development phases. All these facts have been increasing the interest of carriers in using Prague airport. In one of the most dramatic moments in its history, the airport was seized by Soviet paratroopers on the night of August 20–21, 1968, who then facilitated the landing of Soviet troops and transports for the invasion of Czechoslovakia.

The airport has excellent location both with respect to short distance from the centre of Prague and within the European area. Moreover, the Ruzyně fields provide opportunities for further expansion of the airport according to the increasing capacity demand. The airport serves as a hub of the trans-European airport network.

The political and economic changes affected the seventy years of existence of the Prague-Ruzyně Airport. Some new air transportation companies and institutions were founded and some ceased operation since then. Ten entities were responsible for airport administration over time, including the new construction and development. Until the 1990s, there were two or three decade gaps before the major modernization of the Prague-Ruzyně Airport began in order to match the current capacity requirements. Since then, the Airport began modernisation on an ongoing basis and is gradually one of the top European airports.^{[citation needed]}

The airport was used in the James Bond film, Casino Royale. The airport, along with Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340-600, depicts a scene that actually takes place in the film at Miami International Airport.

An online petition organized by one of the best-known Slovak film director, Fero Fenič, calling on the government and the Parliament to rename Prague Ruzyně Airport to Václav Havel International Airport attracted - just in a week after December 20, 2011 - a support of over 65,000 signatories both within and outside of the Czech Republic. A rendition of the airport with the proposed Václav Havel's name in a form of his signature along with his typical heart symbol after it is included in a blog's article in support of re-naming of the airport.

Further development

As the capacity of the airport has been reaching its limit for the last couple of years (as of 2005), further development of the airport is being considered. Besides regular repairs of the existing runways, Prague Airport (Czech: Letiště Praha s.p.) began the preparations for building a new runway, parallel to the 06/24 runway. The construction with estimated costs of CZK 5–7 billion was scheduled to begin in 2007, and the new runway marked 06R/24L (also called the BIS runway) is to be put into service in 2010. However, because of plenty of legal problems and protests of people who live close to the airport premises, the construction has not yet begun. Despite these problems, the project has support from the government, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2014. animation of the new runway and more info.

It will be over 3,500 metres (11,483 ft) long. Located about 1,500 metres (4,921 ft) south-east of the present main runway, the 24L runway will be equipped with a category III ILS, allowing landing and taking off under bad weather conditions.

Prague Airport states that besides increasing the airport capacity, the new runway system will greatly reduce the noise level in some densely inhabited areas of Prague. This should be achieved by reorganising the air traffic space around the airport, and shifting the traffic corridors after putting the two parallel runways into service. The vision of heavy traffic raised many protests from the suburban communities directly surrounding the airport. On 6 November 2004, local referenda were held in two Prague suburbs – Nebušice and Přední Kopanina – giving official support to the local authorities for active opposition against the construction of the parallel runway.

The construction of a railway connection between the airport and Prague city centre is also in the planning stage. According to the most recent plans, the construction should begin in 2011, and the operations should commence in 2014. The track will be served by express trains with special fares, connecting non-stop the airport with the city centre, and local trains fully integrated into Prague integrated transit system.

See the airport railway project description in Czech at www.praha-kladno.cz or Wikipedia article.

Terminals

APC Building, the head office of Czech Airlines in Ruzyně Airport

The new control tower

Departure hall of Terminal 1 opened in 1997

Terminal 1 on the right, connecting building in the middle and Terminal 2 on the left.

Departure hall of Terminal 2 opened in 2006

The check-in hall of terminal 2

Concourse B at Christmas time

Ruzyně Airport has two main passenger terminals, two general aviation terminals, as well as a cargo facility.

• Terminal 1: is used for flights outside the Schengen area; it was opened in 1997
• Terminal 2: is used for flights within the Schengen area; it was opened on 17 January 2006
• Terminal 3: is used for private and charter flights; it was opened in 1997
• Terminal 4: is used exclusively for VIP flights and state visits; it is the oldest part of the airport which was opened on 5 April 1937
• Cargo Terminal 1: operated by Menzies Aviation Czech; for freight flights only
• Cargo Terminal 2: operated by Skyport; for freight flights only

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations	Terminal
Aer Lingus	Dublin	1
Aeroflot	Moscow-Sheremetyevo	1
Aerosvit Airlines	Kiev-Boryspil	1
Air France	Marseille, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Toulouse [begins 1 April 2012]	2
Air France operated by Brit Air	Lyon	2
Air Malta	Seasonal: Malta	2
Air One	Milan-Malpensa, Pisa, Venice-Marco Polo [begins 4 May 2012]	2
Austrian Airlines operated by Tyrolean Airways	Vienna	2
Azerbaijan Airlines	Baku	1
Belavia	Minsk	1
Bmibaby	Birmingham, East Midlands	1
British Airways	London-Heathrow	1
Brussels Airlines	Brussels	2
Central Connect Airlines	Ostrava, Poznan	2
Cimber Sterling	Copenhagen	2
Czech Airlines	Abu Dhabi, Almaty, Baku, Bucharest-Henri Coandă, Donetsk, Kiev-Boryspil, Larnaca [ends 23 March 2012], Lviv, Minsk, Moscow-Sheremetyevo, Odessa, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Skopje [ends 23 March 2012], Sofia [ends 22 March], St. Petersburg, Tashkent, Tbilisi, Tel Aviv, Ufa [begins 28 March 2012], Yekaterinburg, Yerevan, Zagreb	1
Czech Airlines	Amsterdam, Athens [ends 23 March 2012], Barcelona, Berlin-Tegel, Brussels, Budapest, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva [resumes 23 April 2012], Hamburg, Hanover, Helsinki, Košice, Kraków, Ljubljana, Madrid, Milan-Malpensa, Oslo-Gardermoen [ends 23 March 2012], Ostrava, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Poprad-Tatry, Riga, Rome-Fiumicino, Stockholm-Arlanda, Strasbourg, Stuttgart, Tallinn, Vilnius, Warsaw, Žilina Seasonal: Bordeaux	2
Czech Airlines operated by Central Connect Airlines	Ostrava	2
Delta Air Lines	New York-JFK	1
Donavia	Rostov-on-Don	1
EasyJet	Bristol, London-Gatwick, London-Stansted	1
EasyJet	Amsterdam, Lyon, Milan-Malpensa, Paris-Charles de Gaulle	2
El Al	Tel Aviv	1
Emirates	Dubai	1
Finnair	Helsinki	2
Germanwings	Cologne/Bonn	2
Iberia	Madrid	2
Jet2	Edinburgh, Leeds/Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle	1
KLM operated by KLM Cityhopper	Amsterdam	2
Korean Air	Seoul-Incheon	1
LOT Polish Airlines	Warsaw	2
Lufthansa	Frankfurt	2
Lufthansa Regional operated by Augsburg Airways	Munich	2
Lufthansa Regional operated by Lufthansa CityLine	Düsseldorf, Munich	2
Malév Hungarian Airlines	Budapest	2
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Copenhagen, Oslo-Gardermoen, Stockholm-Arlanda	2
OLT Jetair	Gdańsk	2
Polet Airlines	Voronezh	1
Rossiya	St. Petersburg	1
S7 Airlines	Novosibirsk	1
Scandinavian Airlines	Stockholm-Arlanda	2
Skyways Express	Gothenburg-Landvetter	2
Smart Wings	Dubai, Tel Aviv Seasonal: Antalya, Burgas, Larnaca, Split	1
Smart Wings	Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Rome-Fiumicino, Tenerife-South Seasonal: Barcelona, Bilbao, Budapest, Cagliari, Catania, Chania, Corfu, Girona, Heraklion, Ibiza, Kalamata, Kavala, Kefalonia, Kos, Lamezia Terme, Lemnos, Malaga, Malta, Menorca, Nantes, Nice, Olbia, Palma de Mallorca, Paphos, Preveza, Rhodos, Thessaloniki, Valencia, Zakynthos	2
Swiss International Airlines operated by Contact Air	Zürich	2
Swiss International Air Lines operated by Swiss European Air Lines	Basel/Mulhouse, Geneva	2
TAP Portugal	Lisbon Seasonal: Budapest	2
Tatarstan Airlines	Kazan, Perm	1
Transavia.com	Rotterdam	2
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul-Atatürk	1
Ural Airlines	Yekaterinburg	1
Vueling	Barcelona	2
Wind Jet	Catania, Rimini	2
Wizz Air	London-Luton Seasonal: Bourgas	1
Wizz Air	Barcelona, Bari, Eindhoven, Madrid, Milan-Orio al Serio, Naples, Rome-Fiumicino, Treviso-Sant'Angelo	2
Yakutia Airlines	Krasnodar	1

Cargo airlines

Airlines	Destinations
Air Contractors	Paris-Charles de Gaulle
China Airlines Cargo	Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Luxembourg, Taipei-Taoyuan
Czech Airlines operated by Genex	Minsk
TNT Airways	Brno, Katowice, Liege
UPS Airlines operated by Farnair Switzerland	Cologne/Bonn
Yangtze River Express	Dhaka, Shanghai-Pudong, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Luxembourg

Traffic and statistics

In 2004, the airport served 9.7 million passengers; in 2005 nearly 10.8 million; and 11.6 million in 2006. In 2007 the number of passengers rose to 12,440,000 and in 2008 reached 12,630,557. In 2009 the number decreased to 11,643,366, and only 143,060 were domestic passengers. It was the 32nd busiest airport in Europe in 2009. The top 10 destinations were:

Rank	Airport	Passengers handled
1	Paris-Charles de Gaulle	550,902
2	London-Heathrow	430,453
3	Frankfurt	415,630
4	Moscow-Sheremetyevo International	404,024
5	Amsterdam Schiphol	374,220
6	Madrid-Barajas	300,432
7	Rome-Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci	290,972
8	Brussels	265,756
9	Zürich	249,963
10	Barcelona	245,423

Incidents

• On 30 October 1975, an Inex Adria Aviopromet Douglas DC-9-32 hit high ground during an approach in fog to Prague Ruzyně Airport. 75 of the 120 passengers and crew on board were killed.

Ground transportation

Public Transport

• Buses of Prague Public Transit Co. stop at both terminals every 10 minutes. A 90 min. ticket can be bought for CZK 32 at the arrival hall (CZK 40 from the bus driver).
  • 119 – terminates in 24 minutes at the Dejvická station. Transfer to Metro line A to get to the centre. The ticket is valid on the Metro too.
  • 100 – terminates in 18 minutes at the Zličín station. Transfer to Metro line B to get to the centre. The ticket is valid on the Metro too.
  • 179, 225 – terminate in 45–53 minutes at the Nové Butovice station. Probably of no use for a tourist.
  • 510 – a night service every 30 minutes. Goes to the south of the city, but passes near the centre ("Jiráskovo náměstí" or I. P. Pavlova stops) which takes 42 minutes.

• A Czech Railways public bus service, AE – AiportExpress, connects Terminals 1 and 2 with Praha hlavní nádraží every 30 minutes. The journey takes 40 to 50 minutes.

• Other buses
  • Some local buses from Prague to Kladno stop at Terminal 1.
  • Student Agency buses link Terminal 1 with Karlovy Vary.

Taxis

There are two taxi companies officially authorized at the airport [1]. Both Radiocab taxi and AAA RADIOTAXI should take you to the city centre for around CZK 500.

Taxi fares are regulated by the Prague City Council [2]. No taxi should charge more than CZK 40 per ride plus CZK 28 per km. Taxi meter should be turned on and print a receipt.

Other information

Ruzyně Airport took part in the Onion News (comedy internet news magazine) with the episode dedicated to Franz Kafka. The Airport was renamed to Franz Kafka International Airport in it with funny scenes imitating Kafka's famous novels.

See also

• List of airports in the Czech Republic

External links

• Ruzyně Airport – official homepage
• Prague Airport – Photogallery
• Prague Airport – Airport maps
• Architects' page about the building of the North Terminal 2 (Czech)
• Information about Ruzyně Airport
• Air Services Authorities (ŘLP) – website about Prague-Ruzyně Airport
• Onion News – Onion News report featuring Prague Airport.