Ryanair, the budget airline, is set to expand its presence at Prague Airport for the upcoming winter season. The airline plans to introduce a fourth aircraft to its Prague base and initiate service on six new routes, resulting in a total of 27 routes served. Additionally, Ryanair will boost the frequency of its existing routes. The carrier’s goal for this year is to transport 2.4 million passengers through Prague Airport, matching its pre-COVID-19 numbers.
The new winter destinations from Prague will include Catania, East Midlands, Gdansk, Malaga, Seville, and Tirana. Concurrently, the airline will increase flight frequencies on 12 other routes, including popular destinations such as Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, and Rome.
This expansion represents a significant investment of approximately CZK 2.3 billion, and it is expected to create 30 new job opportunities. Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, Ryanair operated with five aircraft in Prague.
In 2019, Ryanair transported approximately 2.4 million passengers through Prague Airport. The airline’s representatives note that it now carries roughly 30 percent more passengers across Europe compared to the pre-pandemic period. Consequently, they view growth prospects at Prague Airport as somewhat modest. Currently, Ryanair is the second-largest carrier at Prague Airport, following Smartwings.
Jiří Vyskoč, Executive Director of Air Business Development at Prague Airport, expressed satisfaction with Ryanair’s expansion, emphasizing that passengers will benefit from increased options for direct flights.
Jason McGuinness of Ryanair stated, “Ryanair is delighted to be able to offer Prague customers even more choice and lower fares this winter with 27 routes, including six very exciting new routes.”
In addition to Ryanair, Smartwings has also introduced new offerings for the winter season, providing direct connections from Czech airports to over 20 destinations, including Dubai, Spain, the Canary Islands, and Antalya, Turkey, from Prague. Smartwings currently bases 25 aircraft at Czech airports, and CSA, part of the Smartwings group, plans to commence flights to Yerevan, Armenia, from October.
While Prague Airport saw a 36 percent year-on-year increase in passenger traffic, handling 5.8 million passengers in the first half of this year, it has yet to reach the levels recorded in 2019, when it accommodated 7.8 million passengers during the same period. According to Czech Air Traffic Control, the number of flights increased by 12.2 percent to 268,765 in the first half of the year, with Prague Airport managing around 52,000 of them, marking a 16 percent year-on-year rise.
Source: novinky.cz
