April 2010

OPENING OF THE “NATURE” EXHIBITION

On 15^th April, an inspiring exhibition named “NATURE” was ceremonially opened in Prague Airport’s Terminal 2. The photo exhibition with the subtitle “Natural Jewels of the Earth” introduces more than two hundred pictures taken by a famous Czech traveller Jiri Kolbaba during his numerous travels around the world. Airport visitors will have an opportunity to admire unique natural beauties through the displayed photos until 15^th July 2010.

AIRPORT CLOSURE DUE TO VOLCANIC ERUPTION IN ICELAND

From 16^th to 21^st April 2010, Prague Airport and all operating airlines had to face an unprecedented situation caused by the volcanic eruption in Iceland. The traffic at Prague Airport was suspended for three consecutive days - from Friday, 16^th April, 12:00 p.m. until Monday, 19^th April, 12:00 p.m. as a result of the closure of air space above the Czech Republic due to the spread of volcanic ash cloud. During this period, a total of 1,683 flights were cancelled which affected more than 140,000 passengers. Thanks to a prompt reaction of the crisis staff to changing conditions, it was possible to reopen the air space on 19^th April, one day earlier than the majority of other affected airports throughout Europe. However, it took another two days to return to regular operation. For the duration of the crisis, Prague Airport information service handled approximately 50,000 customer requests and the company web site experienced the record number of 334,000 unique visits. Regularly updated information about the situation was available there together with contact details of particular airlines and options of alternative transportation. Prague Airport also initiated an increase in capacity of bus and rail connections to major European cities and discounts on accommodation for passengers whose flights were cancelled. Prague Airport waived all charges to airlines for aircraft parking, use of check-in counters and boarding bridges within the respective period. Passengers scheduled for the cancelled flights did not pay for car parking in the Parking C facility.

UNIQUE AIRPORT TOURS FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC

In connection with the cease of operation, on 18^th April Prague Airport operatively prepared special airport tours for general public which took visitors to places that are normally inaccessible. Over 3,400 visitors were able to enter the transit area of Terminal 2, take a bus trip crossing the main runway and apron areas or visit the interior of two aircraft Boeing 737 and Airbus 320 of Czech Airlines. These special tours also included presentation of the most modern airport machines and fire engines. Tours were provided free of charge as well as parking at dedicated parking facility.

NEW PROMOTION CAMPAIGNS OF PRAGUE AIRPORT

Prague Airport launched a new marketing campaign that is designed to promote offers and services to airlines. In addition to a general advert highlighting the potential of growing within the Prague market, there are three other versions focusing on specific segments of network, low cost and cargo carriers. This new appealing campaign continues in using the successful claim “Prague Loves You” setting it forward to the feeling that Prague is the right place for new business. A separate campaign addressing passengers is promoting the airport network and different services available at the airport from shopping options, through offer of restaurants to car park facilities. For the first time, the promotion introduces a system of the “Best Price Guaranteed” run in airport shops that are able to guarantee the lowest price in the Czech Republic for selected products.

IMPROVEMENT OF PRAGUE AIRPORT’S POSITION IN WORLD AIRPORT SURVEY

Prague Airport continued its success in being ranked 15^th in Europe (17^th in 2009) and 36^th in the global airport ranking (40^th in 2009) which is based upon the ratings and feedback applied by independent air travellers in the “2010 Airport of the Year Survey”. The survey, carried out by Skytrax Research between July 2009 and March 2010, measures more than 38 aspects of passenger satisfaction for airport product and service standards. Passenger interviews covered more than 190 international airports for this year's study. Criteria where Prague Airport enjoyed the best improvement covered cleanliness and presentation of washrooms, direction signage around passenger terminals, ease of transit through the airport as well as baggage delivery times or quality of food in restaurants.

ADDITIONAL DELTA AIR LINES FLIGHTS TO THE UNITED STATES

As of 3^rd May 2010, the leading U.S. airline Delta Air Lines will reopen its direct non-stop flights to Atlanta. The seasonal service will connect Prague and the airline’s Atlanta base until 30^th August with four weekly flights, on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, operated by Boeings 767-300. From 3^rd June 2010, Delta will also start operating daily service on its New York/JFK route. Regular flights on Tuesdays and Thursdays will be added to the current five weekly connections. The increase of Delta’s flights from Prague will significantly widen the offer of direct transatlantic flights and open new possibilities to travel on connecting flights to an extensive network of nearly 250 destinations in the U.S. as well as number of destinations in Latin America, the Caribbean and the rest of the American continent. More information available at www.delta.com.

CZECH AIRLINES’ MANCHESTER ROUTE REOPENING

After taking a winter break, Czech Airlines renewed its service between Prague and Manchester on 1^st April 2010. Flights are operated six times a week with departures from Prague at 8:10 p.m. on all days of the week except Saturday, arriving back to Prague the next day at 10:25 a.m. The airline is using both Boeing 737-400 and 737-500 aircraft on this route. Manchester was the second most popular destination after London for travels between Prague and the United Kingdom in 2009. Passenger surveys conducted among departing passengers at Prague Airport showed that 32% of passengers used flights on this route for business purposes and over 65% were travelling to Manchester repeatedly in the course of the year. For further information about Czech Airlines’ flights please visit www.czechairlines.com.

TATARSTAN AIRLINES TO LAUNCH FLIGHTS TO KAZAN

Effective from 1^st May 2010, Tatarstan Airlines will start operating a direct scheduled route from Prague to its Kazan base. Tatarstan Airlines is the regional airline of the Republic of Tatarstan, a part of the Russian Federation. Flights on the new Prague-Kazan route will be operated twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays by a Boeing 737-500 aircraft type. The introduction of this new service supports the recent trend of Prague’s growing popularity in eastern markets, whereas passengers from the Czech Republic will benefit by getting a connection to an attractive destination which remains unexplored for the time being. Find more at www.tatarstan.aero.

Passenger volumes in March 2010 followed the positive trend of the first two months of this year as they increased by 6.9% to the total of 859,495 handled passengers. The number of aircraft movements reaching 12,707 take-offs and landings represented a slight decrease by less than 1%. The most significant improvement was seen in the development of cargo traffic which rose in March by 33.2% year-on-year and thus approached the pre-crisis levels of 2008.

The charter segment experienced the most remarkable growth of passengers by 13.7%, although the value of this increase is reduced due to the fact that it is compared to an extremely low base in the same period of the last year. Full service airlines grew by 8.7% while the low cost carriers remained at similar levels to those of 2009. The number of transferring passengers at Prague Airport again enjoyed an impressive growth by 31.9%.

The United Kingdom, Germany and Italy remained the most popular countries visitors travelled to in March 2010. A double-digit growth was recorded at the eight from TOP 10 destinations. Paris/Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt and Moscow/Sheremetyevo ranked on the first three positions. The highest increase of passenger numbers was represented by the Barcelona route (+61%), followed by Copenhagen (+43.8%) and Paris/Charles de Gaulle (+42.2%).