Last spring and summer, residents of parts of Prague where this soundscape is not very common had to get used to the daily crash of planes. Due to repairs around the runway, Prague Airport moved all traffic to the secondary runway, which, unlike the main runway, is directed to the densely populated parts of Prague and the Central Bohemia region.
The situation will repeat itself this year. Prague Airport announced on Tuesday that the second stage of the closure of the main runway will begin on Monday, March 30, which will last four and a half months. Traffic will again move to the side runway. As last year, the planes will arrive via Prague, take-offs are planned in the direction of Kladno.
The repairs thus again fell on the period when the airport is at its busiest. “Even this year, the closure takes place during the spring and summer months, because the secondary runway is not equipped for takeoffs and landings in reduced visibility. It is for this reason that we carry out repairs in the months when, based on long-term statistics, the occurrence of fog is the lowest,” explained airport spokesperson Eva Krejčí.
According to representatives of the airport, the repairs could not be completed in one year, because they would not have time to complete them by the time of year with deteriorated weather conditions or a greater occurrence of fog.
“All the work that we are carrying out in the vicinity of the main runway during these two years is carried out in an above-standard short period of time,” explains Krejčí, adding that the airport plans to complete the repairs this year.
Photo: Jaromír Vondrák, Mapy.com
Landing and take-off of aircraft during repairs around the main runway.
The airport is again planning compensation
As reported by Seznam Zprávy last year, the repairs were accompanied by complaints from citizens of city districts such as Prague 4, 5, 6 or 17. While some watched the landing of the planes with enthusiasm, others were bothered by the excessive noise. People also considered moving or temporarily moving from Prague to another place.
That is also why the affected districts asked for financial compensation. In total, the airport allocated ten million for the affected parts last year. And the airport is counting on the donation, which in the past the city districts have used, among other things, for school repairs or language courses for children, this year as well.
“We apologize to the citizens who will be affected by this situation, but until the parallel track is in operation, we have no other option but to transfer all traffic to the secondary track,” said Krejčí.
Representatives of the Prague airport have repeatedly pointed out that the planes have to fly over densely populated areas during repairs, also because it has not yet been possible to build a new runway. Unlike today’s secondary runway, it would be directed similarly to the main runway.
Permitting has dragged on for years, some districts and municipalities near the airport and the environmental organization Arnika are protesting against the project. At the end of last year, however, the airport came close to construction, when the Central Bohemian Region approved it in a zoning decision that was not yet final.
During the closure, the airport will work on a total of 14 projects worth approximately one billion.
“Among the biggest construction events at Prague Airport will be the reconstruction and expansion of taxiway crossings, the construction of a new cable duct, the replacement of the airport’s perimeter fencing and the replacement of LED lights, which are used for the safe navigation of aircraft during take-off, landing and taxiing,” reads the airport’s press release. The repairs do not concern the main track itself, which was already renovated in 2012 to 2013.