Prague Airport rolled out the red carpet on 24 June for Europe’s airport community as Airports Council International (ACI) EUROPE revealed the winners of its 2026 Best Airport Awards during the gala evening of the association’s annual congress. Although the honours went to airports across the continent—Helsinki (digital transformation), Stuttgart (eco-innovation), Sofia (HR excellence) and Wrocław, Riga, Venice, Vienna and Rome in their respective passenger-volume categories—the fact that the ceremony took place in the Czech capital is significant for local stakeholders. It positions Prague as a regional hub for thought leadership on passenger experience, sustainability and digitalisation at a time when Czechia is accelerating its own airport-modernisation programme, including the multi-year closure of runway 06/24 for upgrades and a planned Terminal 3 expansion. ACI EUROPE’s Director-General Olivier Jankovec told delegates that “peer-recognition of best practice drives the entire network forward”, urging Czech policymakers to ensure the regulatory framework continues to support airport investment. Winning case studies showcased advanced baggage robotics, AI-driven gate allocation and near-zero-emission apron fleets—technologies Prague Airport is already piloting with EU recovery funds and that Czech suppliers of ground-handling and IT services can help export. For corporate travel managers the awards double as a practical checklist: the highlighted innovations—touchless border-control kiosks at Helsinki, SAF-ready fuelling at Stuttgart, AI workforce-planning at Sofia—preview solutions likely to spread through ACI’s 600-airport membership. Companies moving staff through Prague will benefit from first-hand demos this week and can feed lessons back to their own global-mobility playbooks. Finally, the gala cemented Prague’s reputation as a conference-level destination able to host 500 senior delegates even amid runway works. Local DMCs reported near-full hotel occupancy, and CzechInvest used the sidelines to pitch its Digital Nomad visa to visiting executives—another reminder that high-level aviation events can be leveraged to boost inbound business mobility.
Source: ACI EUROPE
