Prague Airport, (IATA:PRG) says in handled 17,804,900 passengers last year, which represents an increase of approximately one million more than in 2018. That equates to a 6% year-on-year increase and sets an all-time record for the Czech Republic’s primary international gateway. The airport said that throughout the entire year, 71 airlines provided regular connections to a total of 165 destinations, of which 15 were long-haul. The airport reported a significant increase in the number of passengers also on long-haul routes, overall by 10.9%.
In the same period 154,777 flight movements took place – down by 0.5% – but a higher average passenger load factor and the use of larger airliners delivered the higher passenger numbers.
Vaclav Rehor, chairman of the board of directors, Prague Airport, said: “The 6% increase in the number of handled passengers that was reported last year is a great result. With these results, we slightly exceeded our prediction made at the beginning of 2019. The reasons for the steady increase include a higher number of long-haul connections and their higher capacity, as well as more frequencies to the busiest European cities, such as London, Amsterdam and Moscow.
“For this year, we are also predicting further growth in the number of passengers, which, however, would already put us over the limit of our operating capacity. We will launch several important development projects directly in the terminals. Unfortunately, these changes may temporarily affect comfort of our passengers, but it will ultimately lead to an even more modern and convenient airport once they are completed.”