Following the example of other international airports, Prague Airport awarded the best airlines for the past year for the second time. The title of the most developing carrier was awarded to the domestic airline Smartwings. The most efficient carrier in terms of traffic is Finnair. The title of Most Environmentally Responsible Carrier was added to the two categories, which was won by the airline easyJet. Emirates airline also received an award for the best use of marketing support in cooperation with Prague Airport.

“It was confirmed to us that last year’s decision to award the best airlines was the right one. This is a standard procedure by international airports towards their partners. We believe that even with this award we motivate the carrier to further develop at Václav Havel Prague Airport. At the same time, through the Top Sustainable Airline category, we also motivate carriers to do sustainable and transparent business, which is part of our adopted ESG strategy,” says Jiří Pos, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Prague Airport, about the award.

Category criteria

The award in the category with the largest year-on-year increase in the number of passengers “Fastest Growing Airline at Prague Airport 2022” was awarded by Prague Airport to the air carrier that in the previous calendar year achieved the highest year-on-year increase in the total number of transported passengers compared to 2021, and contributed the most to the renewal and development of air connections at Václav Havel Airport Prague.

“We are pleased that we managed to win this award for the second year in a row. Last year, we doubled the number of passengers carried to 5.2 million and reached 93% of the pre-Covid level. I consider this a great success and I want to thank all our employees and business partners for it. I believe that we will continue to be the largest air carrier at Václav Havel Prague Airport and will continue to be an important player and contributor to the tourism sector,” says Roman Vik, member of the board and CEO of Smartwings, as

The title of the most efficient carrier with regard to operations “Best Performing Airline at Prague Airport 2022” takes into account the fulfillment of key operational indicators, but also the carriers’ volume performance. Only carriers that performed at least one hundred aircraft movements between July and December last year are evaluated. This corresponds to approximately two years of traffic per week during the monitored period.

“We are proud and honored to receive this award. 2022, especially the summer, was operationally demanding, but Finnair was well prepared for the increase in demand. Thanks to cooperation with our partners, such as Prague Airport, we managed to be one of the most punctual airlines in Europe. Prague is an important part of our network and during the coming summer season we will operate this route with a higher number of frequencies,” says Gabriela Hiitola, Vice President for Operations Management at Finnair.

The most environmentally responsible

The “Top Sustainable Airline at Prague Airport 2022” has three criteria for evaluation: noise and emissions of aircraft operating at Václav Havel Airport Prague and the approach, commitments and activities of airlines in general in the field of sustainability.

Jane Ashton, director of sustainability at easyJet, said of the award: “We are very pleased to have been awarded the title of ‘Top Sustainable Airline at Prague Airport 2022’ and recognize Prague Airport for its detailed and transparent criteria. At easyJet, we are working very hard to make our operations even better, which includes reducing carbon emissions – currently through fleet renewal and efficient operations, as well as online reporting and a detailed plan to achieve net carbon neutrality by 2050. eliminating single-use plastic items (11.5 million items in FY 2022 alone) and recycling, which includes the introduction of new crew uniforms made from recycled plastic bottles.”

As part of the assessment of the best form of use of marketing support in cooperation with Prague Airport and awarding the title “Best Airline Marketing Campaign with Prague Airport 2022”, an independent expert committee evaluated the quality of jointly implemented campaigns in the past year. The expert committee consisted of 5 members who are marketing professionals in partner travel agencies CzechTourism and Prague City Tourism, advertising sources Etnetera/Motion and corporate marketing and Airline Marketing of Prague Airport. The evaluation included 27 campaigns of air carriers that effectively used the possibility of marketing cooperation. Among the main criteria for evaluating the campaigns were the visibility of Prague Airport brands, the attractiveness of the visuals and the clarity of the message.

“We are delighted to have received this award for our campaign to Dubai from the autumn of last year, and we appreciate the support of our communication activities and promo campaigns among the Czech audience by our partner Prague Airport. Dubai is an ever-changing destination that offers endless possibilities for all types of travelers, and we are happy that it is one of the most popular destinations for Czech tourists,” said Bořivoj Trejbal, Area Manager Emirates Czech Republic.

The year 2022 from the point of view of the number of passengers

Prague Airport handled 10,734,880 passengers in the year. In 2021, it was almost 4.4 million people for the whole year. The number of takeoffs and landings climbed to over 100,000, which is 35 percent less than in the pre-Covid 2019 year.

According to Jiří Vyskoč, Executive Director of Air Trade Development, the strongest day in terms of the number of checked-in passengers was the first of July. “Over 51,000 passengers passed through the airport that day, while their average daily number was over 29,000. On the same day, the airport also recorded the most movements, i.e. takeoffs and landings, which were 409. The strongest month was July. This year, we expect 12.5 million transported passengers.’

Outlook for 2023

This year, Prague Airport expects to extend Delta Air Lines operations during the summer season. Icelandair will launch a service to Keflavík, offering passengers another alternative to connecting to North America. There are also plans to open a line to the popular city of Bilbao in Spain.

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