Due to the Czech presidency of the EU, 80,000 people will travel, and July will be critical
Updates: 16.06.2022 12:38
Released: 16.06.2022, 12:08
Prague – Due to the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU, a total of about 80,000 people should travel between Prague and Brussels. The period from 6 to 21 July, when more than 6,000 people moved between the two cities, will be particularly critical, but this is not enough for the capacity of the airlines. The government is therefore negotiating with the carriers about a possible connection. Connecting flights can also be a variant. This is according to information from the Department of the Minister for European Affairs and ticket vendors.
The exact numbers of people traveling on the Prague-Brussels route for the presidency will vary over time, according to spokesman for European Affairs Minister Marek Zeman. However, the periods from 6 to 21 July, 29 to 31 August, the whole of September, 11 to 26 October, 6 to 10 and 28 to 30 November and 6 November are expected to be particularly incriminated for flights to Prague. December 9, “he said.
The first term in particular can be problematic in this context. In July, the government expects around 6,000 people on the route. However, the main airport in Brussels Zaventem will be from Prague during this period only six years a week in both directions from Brussels Airlines. The carrier on the route now uses an Airbus A319 aircraft with a capacity of 135 seats, so in total there should be around 3,800 seats available for two-way flights during this period. According to Prague Airport, the airlines have promised to ship a larger Airbus A320 for selected days, but ten will increase their capacity by only a few stoves.
The state is therefore negotiating with the Belgian airlines about a possible connection. “However, we are aware of the difficult situation on the part of carriers, but we are still looking for opportunities,” Zeman said. In this context, Prague Airport reminded that the increase in connections is very complicated during the season, because carriers have all flights scheduled well in advance, and thus usually do not have free aircraft available.
Some members of the working and ministerial delegations involved in the presidency will probably have to use alternative connections from Prague to the regional airport in Charleroi, but it is almost 70 kilometers away from Brussels. The low-cost carrier Ryanair flies to this airport from Prague once a day with a Boeing 737 with a capacity for 189 passengers. In total, it should offer a total of around 6,000 places for this period.
However, part of the capacity is also filled by other passengers. “Interest in tickets to Brussels is high during this period,” said Josef Trejbal, head of the Letuška.cz ticket portal. He reminded that other variants will be such as connecting flights. Therefore, according to Trejbal, connections via Warsaw, Frankfurt, Munich or Amsterdam are also in demand during this period.
From the autumn, the Prague-Brussels route should improve, and Brussels Airlines should fly more routes on the route.
In recent weeks, the government has discussed a possible resumption of flights with CSA. According to the server Aktuálně.cz however, the parties did not reach an agreement. The owner of Smartwings, which is the parent company of CSA, Jiří Šimáně, told the server that it is not appropriate for CSA to renew regular flights to Brussels and that it is not feasible for the government to order non-scheduled flights.
The delegations that will have to travel between Prague and Brussels during the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU will include, in particular, members of working groups, political representatives, representatives of EU institutions and agencies, representatives of the Czech, Belgian and European media and private companies.