Press release of the Karlovy Vary Region Office
Building of the new terminal has crowned the Karlovy Vary Airport's modernization
Since 2005 the international airport in Karlovy Vary has undergone three stages of modernization. After the complete reconstruction of the lighting system and runway the present terminal building was rebuilt to meet the requirements after the Czech Republic's joining the Schengen agreements. The second part of the 3rd stage was finished by opening the new really modern terminal.
It is supposed to be one of the most important investments of the Karlovy Vary Region, which invested in the particular modernization stages about CZK 130 million of the total 300 million. Building of the new terminal required the total costs of CZK 98.1 million, when 85 % of these are carried within the Regional Operation Programme NUTS II North-west.
The construction works on the new terminal in the shape of a fuselage without wings started on 20 February 2008. The architectural design author is Ing. arch. Petr Parolek, Ph.D. The original idea of the architectural design was influenced by the building's character and location. The real building bears characteristic features of the art elements, which occure in aviation engineering. The contractor of the building is the Association Airport Karlovy Vary -3rd Stage, whose members are the companies Stavby silnic a železnic, a.s. Praha and Průmstav Praha, a.s. The construction of the terminal was finished in December 2008 and fully opened on 30 April 2009. Among the technical data: the terminal main arch has a span of 31.8 metres, its versed sine is 8.05 metres, the basic dimensions of the hall are 65 x 28 metres.
The new terminal is designed with a strong accent on the comfort for passengers and the airport's operational needs in accordance with the international airport standards regarding the importance of the region and the probable growth in the number of passengers. The capacity up to 250 departing passengers per hour makes it possible for the airport to dispatch 3 to 4 middle sized airplanes at the same time.
In the public hall, i.e. on the 1st grade-level floor, there are facilities for check-in the passengers and their luggage, for security check of the passengers and their cabin luggage at the entrance to the non-public area, travel agencies? and airlines? desks, and a fast food both for the passengers and the airport staff. By moving some of the check-in activities from the original building to the new terminal it was made possible to extend the facilities for commercial use, i.e. to enlarge the Duty Free Shops and to open the business lounge. These adjustments in the original building will be finished by June 2009. On the gallery, i.e. on the 2nd grade-level floor, there are the airport management's offices, the customs office, some rentable premises, a conference room, and a VIP lounge.
After finishing the last part of the 3rd modernization stage of the Airport Karlovy Vary an operating terminal complex has arisen, which is able to provide the check-in of passengers according to the required standards valid for the international airports of the regional importance with the corresponding space capacity. At the same time the reorganization of the transport and checking technologies of the transportation of luggage was completed. The airport became a comfort entrance gateway for the passengers arriving in the Karlovy Vary region, and with its layout it will allow the permanent rise in the number of visitors and the development of our region in the tourist business, balneology, service business, including the regional traffic infrastructure development in the future. In 2008 the airport handled nearly 71,000. Despite the global economic recession the number of passengers has not decreased yet, and thanks to the modernization it will be possible to check-in up to 500,000 passengers a year in the following years. Currently the airport is providing scheduled flights to Moscow and the year before CSA opened a scheduled flight to St Petersburg. The charter flights to Turkey and Rhodos are also popular. The extension of this offer and co-operation with Germany are being negotiated.