Flying high: Prague's Václav Havel Airport ranked among top 5 in Europe

Data from Google shows that Prague’s Václav Havel Airport is ranked the fifth-best airport in the whole of Europe this year. This marks a substantial improvement from 2022, when it had been ranked eighth.

Travel website Holidu used average user ratings left on Google Maps to calculate which European airports were deemed the most popular. Prague Airport had almost 21,000 reviews, with an average rating of 4.3 stars (out of five). This is marginally lower than top-ranked Istanbul Airport, which has 4.4 stars.

In 2022, Václav Havel Airport won an Airport Quality Service award from Airports Council International as Europe's best airport serving 15-25 million passengers per year. This was the fourth time in a row that the airport won the award.

Last year's outlook predicted Prague Airport would accommodate 12.7 million passengers in 2023. However, after taking into account the evolving travel season and the gradual recovery of the aviation industry, the forecast has now increased to 13.6 million people. 

In 2019, the airport reached full capacity with 17.8 million travelers. This summer, Prague Airport witnessed its strongest first holiday weekend ever, accommodating over 160,000 passengers. 

The airport has also recently announced plans to expand terminal and runway facilities to accommodate up to 21.2 million passengers per year. The core of the expansion will be the construction of a new wing in Terminal 2, scheduled to take place between 2026 and 2033. This expansion will see Terminal 2 grow with additional aircraft stands, boarding gates, walkways, and commercial spaces to handle the increased passenger flow.

Efforts are underway to establish new long-distance routes, with discussions ongoing with U.S. and Indian carriers. Reinstating long-haul routes, however, poses complexities due to aircraft capacity constraints. Earlier this year, Czechia's largest airport launched new flights to Seoul, Taiwan, and Yerevan. It also added new connections to the popular Croatian city of Dubrovnik.

An upcoming direct rail connection from the airport to the city will also increase the interconnectedness of the aviation hub. This should come into effect at the end of this decade.