Prague Airport will lay off up to 450 employees due to the coronavirus crisis. The redundancies are scheduled to begin in late May.
“Despite all efforts, Prague Airport is unfortunately forced to eliminate some jobs. The immediate reason for the reduction in the number of employees is the devastating impact on air transport caused by the spread of COVID-19,” an airport spokesman said. The redundancies will begin at the end of May.
The airport employs around 2,900 people. Last year, the airport handled a record 17.8 million passengers. However, due to the pandemic, the airport will not come close to that this year.
The airport forecasts it will handle ten million passengers next year, and passenger volumes should return to normal levels within three years.
Currently, the airport only has two regular passenger flights to Minsk and Sofia. In March, it handled 434,719 passengers, a year-on-year decrease of 64.7 percent. However, the decline will be even higher in April.
Despite the current situation, the airport has not canceled its expansion plans. Which include adding on to the second terminal and the construction of a new parallel runway.
