Both passenger and freight air transport in Prague are primarily operated in Ruzyně at Václav Havel Airport Prague (hereinafter Prague Airport), which is located at the northwest edge of the city (public international airport with an external border). Other Prague airports are Letňany (grass-covered public airport), Kbely (military airport) and Točná (grass-covered private airport). Nearby Prague is also Vodochody (private international airport).

Prague Airport

In terms of the runway system, Prague Airport is equipped with three RWYs, two of which (RWY 12/30 and RWY 06/24) are in use. The total capacity of the runway system is approximately 200 000 aircraft movements (take-offs and landings) per year and 46 aircraft movements an hour.

Prague Airport in Ruzyně, like every other airport in the world, was significantly affected by the coronavirus pandemic, which impacted air transport more than any other kind. The greatest drop-off in number of passengers checked through and aircraft movements was recorded during the spring wave of the coronavirus. During the summer holidays the numbers went up, but in the autumn they began to fall again. According to the predictions of the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) and IATA (International Air Transport Association), with a highly favourable development in the pandemic, air travel will return to its pre-coronavirus level in five years.

The number of aircraft movements at Prague Airport reached a value of 54 163 in 2020, which is 100 614 movements fewer than in 2019 (decrease of 65 %). The greatest number of movements was atypically recorded in January, the lowest (1 213) in February. Despite the long-growing average number of passengers per movement, which had reached a value of 115 passengers/movement in 2019, this indicator declined 41 % in 2020 to a value of 68 passengers/movement.

Prague Airport has three terminals for checking through passengers (PAX) both for departures and for arrivals. Terminal 1 serves to check through passengers flying to countries outside the Schengen Area (passport checks), Terminal 2 is intended for passengers flying to Schengen countries (no passport checks) and Terminal 3 dispatches private and VIP flights. The total capacity of the terminals at the present time is 17 000 000 passengers a year. With the current capacities of the individual subsystems, Prague Airport was in 2019 nearly at the point of maximum utilisation of the overall capacity of the terminals.

Number of processed passengers, carriers and destinations at Prague Airport

In 2020 a total of 3 665 871 passengers were checked through at Prague Airport (of those 96.5 % on regular lines), which represents a decrease of 79 % compared to 2019. The share of classic airline companies making use of the services of Prague's airport in Ruzyně was 63 %, while low-cost companies accounted for 37 %. A full 98 % of passengers flying out had Prague Airport as the departure point of their journey, termed “local passengers”. The most passengers were checked through in January (1 051 029 PAX), the least in April (5 031 PAX due to closed borders). Compared to 2019, the monthly maximum was 47 % lower.

As part of regular air transport, 3 536 364 passengers were checked through, while on non-regular lines the number was 129 507. The month with the highest number of passengers checked through in 2020 was January. The top day was Friday and the times 9:30-13:00, 17:00-19:00 and 20:45-22:00. Passengers could make use of the services of a total of 59 carriers on regular lines in 2020 (10 less than in 2019).

Highest demand destinations from Prague Airport in 2020

Development of volume at Prague Airport (number of passengers and aircraft movements)

Month number of passengers checked at Prague Airport in 2016–2020

Freight transport at Prague Airport

Two cargo terminals are located at Prague Airport for processing freight (Menzies Aviation CZECH s. r. o., SkyPort). Each of these cargo terminals has a capacity of 100 000 t/year. In 2020 air freight with a total volume of 52 443 tonnes was handled at Prague Airport. Freight transport was 29 325 tonnes lower than in 2019 (decrease of 35.9 %). The most freight was handled in January (6 821 tonnes), the least in June (3 430 tonnes). The monthly maximum was 11 % lower in 2019 than in 2018.

Connecting transport to/from Prague Airport

The airport is located approximately 11 km from the centre of Prague. It is served primarily by two express urban bus lines, 100 and 119, which run to the metro lines A (Nádraží Veleslavín) and B (Zličín). In connection with the coronavirus epidemic, operation of both these lines was considerably limited during 2020 (by 50-75 % on the 119 after 11 March, by 50 % on the 100 after 21 March). The special bus line AE (Airport Express: Prague Main Station – Airport), intended primarily for passengers who are continuing on from Prague by rail around the country, stopped running on 17 March 2020 and it is not expected to be renewed before spring 2022. The operation of other long-distance and regional bus lines that travelled to the airport was also limited in 2020.

There is also taxi service available for travelling to or from the airport, both by car or minibus. A number of car rental services also operate there. In 2020, 22.2 % of passengers used their own or a company car to get to the airport, 30.4 % of people used a taxi and 2.6 % of passengers came in a rented vehicle. 30.9 % of passengers made use of public transport connections to get to the airport in 2020 and the remaining 13.9 % used a different method of transport (especially shared transport or non-public transport buses).

All trips to and from the airport (2020)

AE line out of service from 17 March 2020

In 2020 there were a total of 6 872 parking spots available at Václav Havel Airport Prague. Available to the public are short-term parking with a capacity of 583 spots (EXPRESS, PC COMFORT and PA SMART) and long-term parking, offering a total of 3 718 spots (PC COMFORT and PA SMART). For airport employees and partners there are 2 571 parking spots reserved. Other parking options are available at commercial lots in the surroundings of the airport.

Water transport in Prague provides for the transportation of persons and cargo along the Vltava, of which 30.9 km flows within the boundaries of Prague. There are five locks in Prague (Modřany, Smíchov, Mánes, Štvanice, Podbaba). The capacity of the waterway is determined by the capacity of the Podbaba (5.2 million t/year) and Smíchov (2.8 million t/year) locks.

In 2020, water transport, just like all other types of transport, was affected by the government measures to limit the spread of COVID 19. Thanks to the easing of restrictions in the summer months, passenger boat transport was operated, but it was considerably affected by the reduced number of foreign tourists, who make up a majority of the clientele.

Development of number of boats passed through locks in Prague 2000-2020
Year	Lock
	Modřany	Smíchov	Mánes	Štvanice	Podbaba
2000	1 898	21 716	3 747	5 775	1 897
2005	2 530	24 576	2 329	7 740	1 799
2010	2 414	25 797	2 720	8 950	2 335
2015	3 570	24 622	3 855	8 880	3 763
2018	3 491	25 517	4 525	10 525	3 323
2019	2 797	22 228	4 324	12 370	4 021
2020	3 286	10 844	2 724	4 594	2 953

Passenger boat transport along the Vltava is predominantly for tourist and social purposes. Several companies operate year-round, specialising in various types of sightseeing tours around Prague and a wide range of other services. Regular transport service is provided by the Prague ferries, which are part of Prague Integrated Public Transport (PID).

The oldest operator of water transport along the Vltava in Prague is Pražská paroplavební společnost, a. s. (PPS), which was founded in 1865. Today this company forms a consortium with the company Prague Boats, s. r. o., which was created with the partition of the company Evropská vodní doprava (EVD). Prague Boats is the operator of the boats for both companies.

Boat operation is year-round, either at regular time intervals or according to the individual wishes of those ordering. Various sightseeing tours are also organised along the Vltava, to the Zoo, as well as day trips to Slapy and Mělník. PPS runs the Prague ferries P7 in Holešovice.

Another company, AQUAVIA Praha, s. r. o., organises social events on three boats – Moravia, Czechie and Klára. Pražské Benátky, s.r.o. runs canal sight-seeing cruises along the Vltava year-round. Boats leave from the “Judita” docks every 15-20 minutes. The company also operates the Prague ferries P1, P2, P4, P5, P6 and the Vyšehrad ferry, which is not part of PID. A number of smaller companies also operate tours and social events based on individual orders. There are docks for these companies on both banks of the Vltava in the centre of the city, for example at Na Františku, Kampa and Dvořákovo nábřeží.

Various domestic and foreign operators also carry out freight transport on the river. One of the largest operators is Evropská vodní doprava – Sped, s. r. o., which runs domestic and international transport of bulk cargo, heavy loads, containers, liquids, etc. There are 4 harbours within the city – Radotín, Smíchov, Holešovice and Libeň – which serve for the transhipment of various types of cargo. The operator is České přístavy, a. s. In addition to these ports, temporary transhipment stations and mobile floating ramps are also used for handling freight.

During the year, modernisation of the lock by Štvanice island and its surroundings continued.

Development of volume of goods passed through the locks in Prague (tonnes/year)
Year	Lock
	Modřany	Smíchov	Mánes	Štvanice	Podbaba
2000	108 168	197 740	238	201 712	370 037
2005	56 759	59 378	690	106 749	302 726
2010	3 476	5 868	829	6 698	165 166
2015	145	345	41	440	313 900
2018	45 720	43 980	2 834	44 768	200 333
2019	39 354	96 888	259	105 299	301 241
2020	3 468	5 412	757	3 882	150 236

Marked growth in the volume of material transported through the locks in Prague in 2018 and 2019 was caused in part by the transport of dredged sediment in the Radotín harbour, which was carried out in spring 2018 by Povodí Vltavy, and also by the transport of dredged sediment on the Vltava Waterway conducted by the Directorate of Waterways of the Czech Republic, which began in October 2018 and continued in 2019.

Development of volume of bulk cargo at Prague harbours (tones/year)
Year	Harbour
	Radotín	Smíchov	Holešovice	Libeň	Other	Prague unspecified
2005	36 408	11 396	99 308	2 934	-	-
2010	0	364	53 207	0	-	-
2015	0	0	64 060	1 622	133 947	98 550
2018	51 632	0	30 567	0	99 164	36 993
2019	50 602	117 293	3 346	0	275 286	42 499
2020	5 181	0	2 444	0	157 756	16 004

Operators of domestic water transport sometimes also report a different location from which they haul earth dug up during construction work. Carriers can also report Prague as a place of port without further specification because in the international numbering system only Prague is listed.

In 2020, 21 846 freight trains were recorded beginning and ending within Prague, which is a 20 % decrease compared to 2019. The most heavily used starting and ending station for freight trains was, traditionally, Praha-Libeň, followed by Praha-Uhříněves, at which the METRANS container terminal is located (most unloaded/loaded cars and delivered/shipped tonnes of goods). The largest number of transit freight trains pass through the railway points Praha-Libeň, Praha-Holešovice and the Bubeneč siding.

In December 2020, operation began on a new segment of track Praha-Vršovice – Praha-Eden – Praha-Zahradní Město – Praha-Hostivař, with the Praha-Eden stop currently just provisional.

Cleaning up from the bark beetle catastrophe continued last year. The station Praha-Zbraslav was used for loading harvested timber within Prague. Over the whole course of 2020, 442 cars were loaded here, which is by far the greatest amount over the past few years.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the volume of rail transport in 2020. In particular transoceanic freight container transport saw a decline, which in the first half of the year was reflected in the volume of Prague's most significant rail customer, the Metrans intermodal terminal in Uhříněves. Other transport took place more or less unchanged, naturally in the terms and context of the pandemic.

Transport of postal consignments between the Czech Post hubs in Praha-Malešice, Olomouc and Ostrava continued unchanged, being supplemented in both directions by transport of individual consignments from the company Lagermax. This segment of transport has generally been seeing slight growth in connection with the increasing number of sales taking place through online channels at the expense of traditional “brick-and-mortar” shops.

In terms of the number of ČD Cargo trains beginning and ending in Prague, the most important stations were Praha-Libeň (6 727 trains beginning and 6 813 ending), Praha-Malešice (2 302 trains beginning and 2 211 ending) and Praha-Uhříněves (1 981 trains beginning and 1 860 ending). In terms of the number of loaded and unloaded trains, the three most heavily trafficked stations were Praha-Uhříněves, Praha-Malešice and Praha-Vršovice. The three busiest stations by number of tonnes carted off and delivered were Praha-Uhříněves, Praha-Vršovice and Praha-Malešice.

Railway hub Prague – freight volume in most frequent stations