Prague Airport opened a new hotel, AeroRooms, on Tuesday, located directly in the airport, between the two terminals. The hotel, in which the airport has invested about 14 million crowns, has 14 rooms designed for transit travellers and clients who want to use accommodation near the terminals.
The hotel part, which was created by the reconstruction of the original premises and extension of non-transit passengers, is operated nonstop by Prague Airport, with the possibility of staying in one of the rooms for less than CZK 2000 per night. Rooms are available for one to four persons, and a standard stay will not exceed 12 hours. It is not a standard hotel, as we are used to from abroad.
In addition to rooms that need to be booked online, a special lounge with an Xbox game console can also be booked in the same area of Prague Airport. Reconstruction of the whole hotel part and its extension cost the airport about 14 million crowns.
“The new AeroRooms hotel project responds to the ever-growing number of checked-in passengers as well as to the changing structure of potential customers. The hotel is primarily intended to improve and increase the capacity of the airport’s accommodation services and make them accessible to a much wider range of passengers,” says Jiří Petržilka, Executive Director of Non-Aviation Trade at Prague Airport.
Specifically, non-aviation trade is essential for the largest domestic airport. Last year alone, non-airline revenues, which include the operation of airport lounges, has climbed to a total of 2.5 billion crowns, which was 200 million crowns more than in the previous year. Prague airport expects further growth in this respect. It is investing tens of millions of crowns in the modernization of individual lounges.
Their goal is to increase comfort and passenger capacity. According to Prague Airport, in the past two years, the interest in airport lounges has increased by almost 25 per cent, making investing a logical step. Over the next month, the Erste Premier Lounge will begin to change at the second terminal, followed by the renovation of the Mastercard Lounge at the first terminal. Each is planned to double its capacity.
Logically, Prague Airport also expects increased revenues. “Passengers’ interest in lounges has been increasing in recent years. As with other airport infrastructure, however, we have reached the maximum capacity in the case of lounges. Therefore, we have decided on building modifications that are feasible with the current form of the airport terminals,” adds Petržilka.
The current modifications are intended to increase capacity so that the airport has a reserve approximately for the following seven years. After that, the extended Terminal 2 should be put into operation, offering new premises for premium airport services.
Last year, the entire Prague Airport Group exceeded CZK 4.7 billion in EBITDA (before taxes, interest, and depreciation), which was CZK 0.1 billion more than in the previous period. This year, despite investments, the operating profit could approach the 5 billion mark for the first time.