Business travellers landing in Prague this week may notice their aircraft taxiing to Terminal 2 rather than the usual Terminal 1. Václav Havel Airport Prague has taken its main runway 06/24 out of service from 30 March to 14 August 2026 for a CZK 1 billion resurfacing and lighting upgrade. With the summer surge kicking off around 20 June, all wide-body arrivals and most departures are now funneled onto the shorter secondary runway 12/30. The operational crunch shows up in minimum-connection-time (MCT) tables. According to a June audit by travel-data firm Travel Vient, the airport’s published MCT of 55 minutes for international-to-international transfers is optimistic: any itinerary that hops between the Schengen Terminal 2 and non-Schengen Terminal 1 now needs at least 90 minutes. Passport control queues have lengthened because Terminal 1’s gate-level security has become the only checkpoint for all non-Schengen traffic.
![Runway Closure Forces Prague Airport to Rethink Connections as Summer Peak Begins]()
If you still need to secure the right travel documents, VisaHQ’s online platform can simplify the Czech visa application process and keep you updated on entry requirements. Their step-by-step tools and same-day processing options (https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/) can be a lifesaver when schedules are tight—especially now that Prague’s connection buffers are growing.
Airlines have responded by retiming evening banks and by issuing connection waivers for itineraries sold before 1 May. Smartwings, the dominant carrier, warns that missed connections will not be re-protected on other airlines because Prague has few interline agreements after Czech Airlines’ collapse. Corporate travel managers are advising employees to book direct ground transport to Brno, Ostrava or Dresden rather than risk tight airside connections in Prague. Travellers transiting the Czech capital should also factor in the new Entry/Exit System (EES) kiosks installed at Terminal 1’s passport control in April. First-time third-country entrants must provide fingerprints and a facial scan—an extra five to ten minutes per passenger even with the additional kiosks installed last week. Airport management says the refurbishment is on schedule and that runway 06/24 will reopen before the 15 August freight peak. Until then, early-morning charter departures and late-evening arrivals are most vulnerable to delays. The advice: allow generous buffers, use the Terminal 2 FastTrack lane if eligible and monitor gate changes in real time.
If you still need to secure the right travel documents, VisaHQ’s online platform can simplify the Czech visa application process and keep you updated on entry requirements. Their step-by-step tools and same-day processing options (https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/) can be a lifesaver when schedules are tight—especially now that Prague’s connection buffers are growing.
Airlines have responded by retiming evening banks and by issuing connection waivers for itineraries sold before 1 May. Smartwings, the dominant carrier, warns that missed connections will not be re-protected on other airlines because Prague has few interline agreements after Czech Airlines’ collapse. Corporate travel managers are advising employees to book direct ground transport to Brno, Ostrava or Dresden rather than risk tight airside connections in Prague. Travellers transiting the Czech capital should also factor in the new Entry/Exit System (EES) kiosks installed at Terminal 1’s passport control in April. First-time third-country entrants must provide fingerprints and a facial scan—an extra five to ten minutes per passenger even with the additional kiosks installed last week. Airport management says the refurbishment is on schedule and that runway 06/24 will reopen before the 15 August freight peak. Until then, early-morning charter departures and late-evening arrivals are most vulnerable to delays. The advice: allow generous buffers, use the Terminal 2 FastTrack lane if eligible and monitor gate changes in real time.
