Prague Airport will expand the second terminal for 16 billion crowns
The capacity of the largest Czech airport will increase significantly. Thanks to permission from the Ministry of Finance, Prague Airport can invest about nine billion crowns in the expansion of Terminal 2 and another about seven billion in associated buildings, such as taxiways, parking garages or roads. The total package of all investments, which the long-term strategy envisages, amounts to about 55 billion crowns. It is to be completed by 2028. On the contrary, the construction of the runway will begin three years later in 2025, contrary to the original plans. The second terminal is now used for flights to Schengen countries.
The airport’s capacity is expected to increase to 30 million passengers a year in the future. “We want Prague Airport to lead the peloton, only passively react to trends in the surrounding countries, and therefore we approved the first stage of the development of the long-term plan,” said the Ministry of Long-Term Finance Alena Schillerová (for YES).
The investment is financed by the airport from its own resources. The air port has been showing a profit for a long time, last year it increased it by a tenth to 3.3 billion crowns. Sales increased by almost four percent to more than 11.5 billion. The growth of checked-in passengers helped: there were ten more last year – 16.8 million. About one million more passengers are scheduled to check in this year and break the record again. However, it is currently on the brink of capacity. This is set to change with terminal expansion.
Future expansion of the airport could expand the destination’s offer. “The implementation of this first step in the long-term development plans of Prague Airport will contribute to the development of air transport in the Czech Republic, including the possibility of opening new air connections,” said the head of the airport, Václav Řehoř.
The expansion will include the construction of nine new aircraft stands with boarding bridges and gates for short- and medium-haul aircraft.
However, the ministry has not yet approved a roughly nine billion investment in a new parallel runway. According to earlier plans, construction was to begin in 2025, lasting three years.
One of the first investments made by the airport to increase traffic is the tenfold expansion of contaminated water treatment plants in the Jih complex. According to the daily E15, the airport will pay about 670 million crowns for this project.