Czech news in brief for July 27: Monday's top afternoon headlines

Good afternoon, massive searches are still ongoing across Prague and beyond after Czech authorities received a large-scale bomb threat on Monday morning. Transport and travels are in the news today, with Prague Airport traffic continuing to grow in the hope of exceeding pre-Covid records and Chinese cars slowly but surely take on the Czech market. Meanwhile, Czechs are warned against travelling to the fire-ravaged Gironde department in France.

Police are investigating a large-scale bomb threat and checking about 400 government offices, shopping centers and other buildings across the country. Officers have been contacting relevant operators and searching the affected sites since the threat was received this morning. The Ministry of the Environment in Prague's Vršovice district was evacuated, but for now no explosive device has been found in any of the locations.

Sales new passengers cars made in China increased by 88 percent year-on-year, with 7,500 Chinese-made vehicles sold on the Czech market in the first six months of 2026, according to the Czech Association of Car Importers. "They did not underestimate the market entry and are operating aggressively in a multi-brand manner," commented automotive industry expert Petr Knap.

Škoda reigns. Chinese-made cars still account for only 6 percent of the Czech market, completely dominated by Škoda (39% of new passenger cars) ahead of Volkswagen, Hyundai, Toyota and Dacia.

The number of passengers at Prague's Václav Havel Airport increased by 6 percent in the first half of the year to reach over 8.2 million people. The airport set an objective of almost 19 million passengers for the entire year. For now, the U.K. is the most popular destination from Prague, followed by Italy, Spain, Greece, Turkey and Germany. In terms of cities, London, Paris and Frankfurt am Main take the top spots.

Troubled skies. The positive growth numbers come as the airport faces potential turbulences. The nomination of Radomír Lašák as Prague Airport's new director from August 1 is facing push-back from trade unions, and the government's tentative plans to partially privatize the airport is also bound to become a hot topic in the coming months.

The Czech Foreign Ministry has advised citizens not to travel to the Gironde department, in the south-west of France, as wildfires continue to ravage through the area. Authorities also called on Czech citizens present in the region to leave as soon as possible as more than 200,000 people have already been evacuated since the fires broke out.

Czech slalom racer Vít Přindiš won first place in kayak cross at the World Championships being held in Oklahoma City - also the venue of all the slalom events of the upcoming 2028 Summer Olympics. The 37-year-old athlete overtook Switzerland's Dimitri Marx in the final, taking home his second world title and bringing Czechia's total medal count at this year's championships to seven.

Olympic gold. Czechs' skills and excellence in kayaking and canoeing disciplines are well-known, with the likes of Josef Dostál, Martin Fuksa, Tomáš Macháč and Kateřina Siniaková already clinching the gold medal at the last Olympic Games in Paris two years ago.