Prague airport debts hit CZK 4bn in 2018 as profits jump 10%

Prague's international airport reported 2018 profits of CZK 3.3bn, a 10 percent rise from 2017, with revenues having gone up just 4 percent to more than CZK 11.5bn. This was largely thanks to a 10 percent jump in the number of passengers served, with the total exceeding 16.8 million. That's a key indicator for the airport, not least because CZK 4.4bn of its revenues came from airport passsenger fees, marking a 3 percent increase. Airlines were invoiced CZK 987m (a 13 percent jump) but the airport's fees for check-in services well 6 percent to CZK 732m. A total of 3,900 people now work at the airport, an increase of 200 that sent its wage bill up 15 percent to CZK 3.1bn. Despite the higher profits, the company is now nearly CZK 4bn in debt, up from CZK 2.7bn at the end of 2017, primarily as a result of leasing contracts since its oustanding bank loans fell from CZK 2.1bn in 2017 to just CK 714m. With the number of passengers now reaching the airport's estimated capacity of 17 million passengers annually, expansion plans worth CZK 27bn have been prepared that would raise its capacity to 21 million passengers by 2026.