Third attempt to clear Vodochody Airport for takeoff

Vodochody Airport officials are trying for the third time to get government clearance to build their international terminal, the only official detail standing in the way of plans to open the runways in 2015 to around 17,500 commercial flights per year, just 15 kilometers north of Prague.

Officials from the airport, which is owned by Penta Investment, submitted their third environmental impact assessment (EIA) to the Environment Ministry Sept. 5, after two previous submissions were rejected because of concerns about noise pollution, accessibility and safety, according to airport spokesman Karel Hanzelka.

"There weren't major shortcomings in the previous versions, but rather we provided some clarifications and amendments of some points," he said.

Airport officials have said they don't expect Vodochody Airport, which they project to attract around 3.5 million passengers per year, to be a serious competitor for Prague's Ruzyně Airport. However, its focus on low-cost carriers and charter flights will likely bring in some of those carriers that Ruzyně lost, like Ryanair, which pulled out of Prague Airport early last year.

The company is not revealing which carriers are currently in talks to use the airport, but Hanzelka said there was serious interest and that it is expected the airport will serve medium-haul routes flown by airplanes like the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320.

The most recent EIA included numerous provisions to address strong opposition against the airport from the residents of nearby municipalities, including reassurances that airplanes will not land or take off from the airport between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., and airport traffic will be thinned out with a feeder road to the airport that will branch from the D8 highway.

The most recent EIA provides for a fund from which municipalities would be paid 1 Kč for every departing passenger, as well as fines if any of the conditions detailed in the EIA are breached. For every aircraft that exceeds the expected annual number of 135,000 flight movements, which includes landings and takeoffs, municipalities will receive 1,000 Kč. For delayed departures that take off between 10 p.m. and midnight, municipalities will receive 15,000 Kč, and 50,000 Kč for every aircraft that lands between midnight and 6 a.m. If any information reported by the airport is incomplete or false, municipalities will receive 100,000 Kč, the plan says.

"Rest assured that we have no intention of violating the plan," Hanzelka said. "It is for the case of unexpected delays caused by problems like adverse weather conditions."

Caroline Wren can be reached at
cwren@praguepost.com