Václav Havel Airport: Ranvej yes, but not a new terminal yet
“The optimistic assumption is eight years from today. We will now want to extend the validity of the opinion on the impact of constructions on the environment (EIA), which will expire at the end of this year, “said Jiří Pos, the new head of the airport, when asked when the new runway will be ready. If the positive EIA opinion of 2011 (already extended by five years) is not extended a second time, the airport will have to go through the whole process of environmental impact assessment again. According to Pose, this would delay the construction by about three years. At the same time, it would give opponents of the construction of the runway a chance to intervene again in the whole process and refocus the fight for a new runway.
Representatives of Nebušice and Suchdol are among the same fighters against the parallel track, and the Lysolají leadership, where Prague councilor Petr Hlubuček (STAN) is in charge, is also against them. Despite his opposition, the deputies eventually agreed to the runway. In December 2020, the opposition pushed for a positive position and the ruling TOP 09, Pirates, STAN and Prague opposed each other.
Another problem for the airport is the fact that in June 2020 the Regional Court in Prague erased the new runway from the principles of territorial development of the Central Bohemian Region. Prague Airport has filed a cassation complaint with the Supreme Administrative Court, and we are still awaiting the result.
Once the runway is still in the first place in the airport’s plans, the construction of a new terminal is being delayed. According to the plan from the autumn of 2019, they had to officially expand the T2 terminal, where a total of nine new aircraft stands with boarding bridges and gates for short- and medium-haul aircraft were to be added. The Ministry of Finance then approved an investment of 16 billion, of which 9 billion was to be swallowed by the terminal itself and 7 billion was to be invested in other buildings, such as taxiways, a parking garage or a road overpass. According to Pose, these plans will remain in the drawer for now. “It’s not possible to expand buildings and then keep them half-empty,” Pos said.
Low number of passengers
The plans for Prague Airport were otherwise disrupted by a covid plague. With almost 18 million passengers passing through the airport in 2019 and investments to go from its own resources, the number of passengers has dropped to 3.7 million, and this year it will be similar, according to Pose. Nevertheless, the airport needs at least 8 million passengers for a balanced economy.
Instead of investing from its own resources, the airport now faces a loan from a bank association in the amount of seven billion crowns. According to Pose, the signing will take place in early October, but the loan still has “very favorable conditions” for the airport.
“However, it is not specified what we can use the money for,” Pos added. According to him, money can go to investment and operation if the crisis deepens. The airport had to start drawing the first billion loan at the end of last year. It happened after a long number of years when it was debt free.
The management of the Prague Airport group ended last year with a loss of 687 million crowns due to a pandemic. In 2019, the state-controlled company earned 4.6 billion crowns. The airport is now working with the option that the number of passengers return to the level of 2019 in 2026.