Preparations underway for renaming the airport in Prague Ruznye to the Vaclav Havel Airport Prague
Preparations for renaming the Ruzyne airport are almost finished. On Friday 5th October, thus on the anniversary of the birth of Václav Havel, the government of the Czech Republic’s resolution will be fulfilled and as of this day, Ruzyne airport will carry the name Vaclav Havel Airport Prague. Leading local representatives of political, social and cultural life, ambassadors based in the Czech Republic and partners of Prague Airport have all been invited to the ceremony. Moreover, an exhibition will be launched of photographs from ČTK archives documenting the life and work of Václav Havel and the work of art by Bořek Šípek will be unveiled, which will permanently commemorate the works of the President of the post Velvet Revolution era.
The ceremony will begin at noon and leading local representatives of political, social and cultural life, ambassadors based in the Czech Republic and partners of Prague Airport have received invitations. “We would like to use the new name, among others, as a means of international presentation of the Prague Airport as an important European air port,” explained Jiří Pos, Director of Prague Airport.
“By renaming the airport, we are openly professing the legacy of Václav Havel and the values he enforced all his life,” Pavel Dobeš, Minister of Transport, stated in relation to the prepared change of name.
The ceremony will also include the launch of an exhibition of photographs of Václav Havel from the České tiskové kanceláře (Czech News Agency), which is based on the exhibition presented at the Old Town Hall. Panels will be located in Terminal 2 and will remain there until the end of the year so that persons interested from the general public have a chance to see them. The work of art, which is being prepared by architect Bořek Šípek and his team, will serve as a permanent commemoration of Václav Havel. Films associated with Václav Havel will be screened at the cinema, which has been operating at the airport for some time now and is free to the general public, from 5th to 31st October.
The name Vaclav Havel Airport Prague will mainly be used for marking the terminal buildings, in announcements on the airport PA system, on public transit buses, on board aircrafts, on airport buses and also in corporate materials of the Prague Airport company, thus on envelopes, letterheads or the company website (www.prg.aero). Within the scope of this process, the IATA code will remain the same, thus travellers will continue to have PRG marked on their tickets, which does not interfere with the renaming process in any way. The expenses for changing the name of the airport were reduced by approximately 3 million CZK as opposed to initial estimates thanks to the tender for the production of light signs. Expenses are covered by the operator of the airport – Letiště Praha, a. s.
