Prague Airport Receives A1 Rating with Positive Outlook from Moody's

"This decision by Moody's confirms the exceptional financial condition of Prague Airport as the operator of the largest international airport in the Czech Republic, and one that is continuously developing. The A1 rating with positive outlook causes us to be seen as a very trustworthy partner when seeking external sources of financing for our long-term development plans. This is also a chance for us to fulfil our commitment to not request any funds from the state budget for the planned airport development and to be able to fully finance it from other sources," says Václav Řehoř, Chairman of the Prague Airport Board of Directors.

The rating by Moody's, as noted by the rating agency in its assessment, further evidences the strong position of Prague Airport as the operator of the largest airport in the Czech Republic, generally perceived as the gateway to the country, a facility with a more than 95% market share in the number of passengers transported into and out of the country by air.

The decision by Moody's to grant the A1 rating with positive outlook was mainly based on the following facts:

• Stable cash flow supported mainly by the strong position of the company as the operator of the largest airport in the Czech Republic, which serves the wider Prague metropolitan area with its population of 2.5 million plus another 4 million people within a 90-minute travel distance.
• Growing earnings from operations supported in the first place by the new and emerging air connections and increasing capacities of existing ones. All that with 2018's year-on-year increase in the number of checked in passengers, increased aircraft occupancy to 80.2%, and increased capacities of short- and medium-distance connections.
• Airport charges, in comparison to other similar airports in the region, are competitive and stable, and Prague Airport's increased income is driven, as emphasised by Moody's in their assessment, not by airport charge increases but by increasing numbers of passengers in the past two years.
• A growing share of passengers for whom Prague is the start of their journey or their final destination, which is the segment shown to be most stable following the significant drop in demand for air transport after 2009. Up to 98% of checked-in passengers are represented by those who start or end their journey in Prague. The share of transfer or transit passengers dropped to 2% in 2018.

The same A1 rating with positive outlook has also been granted to the Czech Republic as a whole this year. In the case of Prague Airport, a.s., a joint-stock company, this rating reflects the performance of the whole Prague Airport Group, including its subsidiaries Czech Airlines Technics, a.s., and Czech Airlines Handling, a.s.

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