Brno Airport started the summer season. Even through the Boeing crisis, the regular lines have completed hundreds of flights to attractive destinations
Greece, Bulgaria or Egypt are the most frequent destinations for passengers from Brno-Tuřany Airport every year. It was the holiday trips that 55% of the population from the surrounding area identified in a recent research as a significant benefit of Brno Airport. Holiday trips will also be affected by the crisis of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft this year, but the airport management is still expecting another busy summer.
"Of course, as the operator, the Boeing crisis affected us significantly and we hope that everything will be resolved soon and to everyone's satisfaction. We are in close contact with both carriers and travel agencies and we try to respond and help passengers, who logically often turn to us as the first point of reference," commented Milan Kratina, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Brno Airport.
Passengers are advised to contact the carrier or travel agency from which they purchased their trip immediately if they do not find a flight in the airport's flight schedule.
Summer is the busiest time of the year
Of the total number of half a million passengers in 2018, the most travellers were flying during the summer holidays, when the airport checked-in more than two hundred thousand people. Although this record year is likely to remain unbeaten, the airport management believes that the decline will not be so dramatic.
"After we launched a new regular line to Berlin and the region started, after the collapse of BMI, looking for a new carrier to Munich, we were looking forward to a good start to another successful season. We must now be careful, but not sceptical. Interest in flights from Brno is growing every year and despite Boeing's problems, we estimate that we will lose only a part of the total number of seasonal flights. Despite the MAX crisis, I am convinced that we will remain in profit," said Zdeněk Šoustal, Member of the Board of Directors of Brno Airport.
According to the latest information, the whole crisis could end in the summer season, because according to the latest reports, Boeing 737 MAX aircraft could be certified at the turn of May/June and therefore take off again in August.
The importance of the airport is also growing in the eyes of locals, but the influx of tourists also plays an important role
More than 55% of the population in the vicinity of Brno Airport perceives its role as a key to the travel of residents on summer holidays and 29% as a clear number one indicates the possibility to get quickly and easily through other world airports around the world. "We want to be a good and beneficial neighbour for the people of Brno. That's why we did a little research on how people perceive us. It turned out that they care about the airport and we do everything we can to let people know about us and continue to grow. After all, why to fly from elsewhere when you have the airport around the corner," said Šoustal.
However, it is not just about flying from Brno to the world. The airport also wants to focus on the influx of tourists in the other direction so that the city is even more attractive for airlines and they would be more interested in adding new routes. "It simply came to our notice then. It is clear that everyone wants to fly from Brno to European capitals, but we, the city and the region must also show this beautiful region abroad. The more interesting we are, the greater the chance that the carriers will launch more lines with us," he added.