Praha/Ruzyně Airport (LKPR)

Saturday 29 August, arrived direct from Rotterdam in an SR 22. The airfield is PPR via one of the handlers. We chose Bell. Cheaper than czechazirlines handling. Nice GA terminal. Handling and parking approx. € 122,--; airport charges approx. € 112,--. Total approx. € 234,--. After landing on runway 24 it’s a long taxi to the GA apron. Refueling is taken care of while you’re off-airport. Before departure, in line with your flight plan, you must request slot coordination via the handler.

I concur with previous reports. Bell Textron Handling does an excellent job and is relatively cost-effective. In any case, service was very expeditious and friendly. They refueled the aircraft on their own while we enjoyed time in Prague. For a PA46, 3 nights of parking and handling for 4 crew came to just under 200 Euro. That’s inexpensive and good value for an airport like this. For ground transport, definitely compare UBER and Bolt—their prices can differ significantly.

After e-mailing all listed handling companies at LKPR, the most cost-effective handler for us was Bell Textron Prague (prague.handling@bh.com) with the following costs for a DA40:

Handling: 1.800 CZK (approx. 74 EUR)
Parking: 14 CZK (approx. 0.6 EUR) per hour/per ton MTOW
Landing fee: 1.110 CZK (approx. 45 EUR)
Coordination fees: 22 CZK (approx. 0.8 EUR)
Passenger tax (for departure) 1115 per PAX (approx. 46 EUR)

plus 21% VAT.

Slot coordination via Bell Textron was straightforward (including a last-minute departure time change) as was managing TSAT.

For the approach, the approach controller asked whether I could maintain best speed on the approach as they had a lot of airline traffic at the time of my approach. I was happy to oblige and fly the approach at 120 KIAS, which the approach controller thanked me for.

Parking for light aircraft was at Q5 on the South Apron but I presume this can vary on the day. Transport between the aircraft and terminal 3 (VIP/BizAv terminal) was easy in both directions and invoicing and payment was quick, however the security check was annoying. We had a lot of liquids with us (cremes, toothpastes etc) and they insisted that every single tube be put into the scanner individually(!) so that unexpectedly took a bit of time.

Avgas 100LL refuelling was initially concerning when I was told that the wait time for the fuel bowser was at least an hour, and I negotiated to have it done without my presence, with the costs charged to the handler (without surcharge) and then paid by me as part of the final invoice. AirBP cards were not accepted and my Total card (which I had passed to the handler) was also not accepted as it did not have a smart chip.

Bonanza A36 IFR. Rwy 06/24 was closed per NOTAM so the other runway got quite busy. The arrival and approach was straightforward with vectoring and good ATC communication. You get multiple radar frequency changes before handoff to tower. They asked to keep best speed until 6nm final (150kts in my case). Guide in with follow me car after leaving runway.

Parking is on the south apron near terminal 3 where the GAT is located. Handler drives you there (in our case CZ Airlines). Very friendly and uncomplicated.

The airport requires a slot for arrival and also departure which the handler organizes for you. Short term schedule changes (up to half an hour before in our case) was no problem.

You will have to ask startup and clearance at the earliest EOBT -15 min, at the latest +5 min.
Be ready to do a running takeoff immediately or very shortly when reaching the holding point. I did my engine runup on the parking stand since it was out in the middle of nowhere (stand S16) and I was alone there.
Departure is straightforward with vectors for separation and shortcuts.
Again very professional and friendly ATC all around.

Costs for 3 overnights incl. handling, 1 adult PAX, 1 infant:
289€.

GAT is very clean modern with a lounge with free beverages. Security check was quick. The handler himself has to be called, upon arrival or beforehand, at the GAT for your departure. He will let you through the lounge and security check. He drove me alone to the plane for the preflight and brought my family upon my request 20 min later to the plane for boarding. Nice for them to rest in the lounge and not in the sun (or rain) on the apron.

I recommend arriving 1h to 1,5h before EOBT at the GAT depending on how much preflight you need to do.

Speedy service from Czech Airlines Handling. Handler seemed new and he did explain he'd never handled a GA aircraft like this before, so he was very attentive. Managed to turn the aircraft around in an hour and clear customs. The new terminal building is efficient but very annoying to have to go through security after pointlessly walking out of the building to otherwise just walk back in.