On December 4, 2025, the Central Bohemian Regional Building Authority granted a zoning decision for the construction of a new parallel runway at Václav Havel Airport Prague. This is a major step forward in the effort to upgrade Prague Airport, which is vital for air travel in the Czech Republic and across the Central European region.

“The Building Authority has made significant progress on the parallel runway project with this ruling. Our team of experts is fully prepared to collaborate with all relevant agencies and stakeholders to ensure that we meet all conditions and requirements arising from the zoning decision in the next phases of the project. It’s crucial that we prepare this project in compliance with all legal, environmental, and safety standards,” stated Jiří Kraus, Vice Chairman of the Prague Airport Board of Directors.

Prague Airport views the parallel runway project as essential for several reasons:

• This project will allow the airport to close from midnight until 5:30 AM, facilitating quieter night operations due to increased daytime capacity.
• The new runway will remain inactive from 10 PM to 6 AM.
• Having two runways—one primarily for takeoffs and the other mainly for landings—will help reduce aircraft waiting times in the air as well as ground taxi times, leading to lower emissions and less noise.
• The addition of two parallel runways will enhance the overall safety and reliability of the airport operations.
• The existing secondary runway will be retired, which will greatly benefit the densely populated areas of Prague and the Kladno region by minimizing noise disruption.

The parallel runway project is part of a comprehensive long-term development plan for Prague Airport’s infrastructure that has been in preparation for nearly twenty years. The placement of the new runway is in line with zoning plans established since the 1960s. Although this project has always been included in the development plans for both the city and the country, its advancement has been hindered multiple times by legal disputes, changes in legislative requirements, and the need to modify or update documentation based on feedback from various authorities and the community. In February 2023, the confirmation of the Spatial Development Principles of the Central Bohemian Region allowed for the resumption of the zoning processes. Now that the zoning decision has been issued, we are entering another preparatory phase leading to the implementation of a crucial part of the airport’s infrastructure, essential for its overall modernization.