Václav Havel Airport Prague (PRG): flight delays and compensation

Václav Havel Airport Prague. As an EU airport, every flight departing from here is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004. Here is what to expect if your flight was delayed or cancelled here, or you were stranded.

By the EU261 Flight Delay editorial team Last reviewed: Reading time: 6 min How we write our guides

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In short: Any flight departing from Václav Havel Airport Prague that arrives 3 or more hours late, is cancelled less than 14 days before departure, or is overbooked can give €250–600 per passenger. Departures: EU261 with any airline.

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About the airport

Václav Havel Airport Prague (PRG) serves Prague, Czech Republic. On the routes Eurostat reports, 10,269,522 passengers flew to or from it in 2024, the 47th-highest among the 397 European airports we cover. Its busiest connections were to Amsterdam, Rome, Paris, Frankfurt.

Every flight departing from here is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004, whatever the airline. Flights arriving here are covered if they depart from the EU, or if an EU airline operates them from outside the EU.

Busiest routes from Prague – and what a delay is worth

The 30 busiest routes on Eurostat’s 2024 data, with the compensation for a 3-hour-plus delay or a late cancellation in each direction.

DestinationPassengers 2024DistanceFrom PRGReturn
Amsterdam AMS652,228705 km€250€250
Rome FCO485,390935 km€250€250
Paris CDG455,782852 km€250€250
Frankfurt FRA438,753407 km€250€250
Barcelona BCN412,5341,358 km€250€250
Antalya AYT391,2131,975 km€400€400*
Milan MXP350,775646 km€250€250
Madrid MAD339,1851,749 km€400€400
Istanbul IST315,2801,488 km€250€250*
Zurich ZRH305,949511 km€250€250
Copenhagen CPH267,786623 km€250€250
Milan BGY253,521598 km€250€250
Málaga AGP242,4992,116 km€400€400
Warsaw WAW232,719521 km€250€250
Munich MUC218,897265 km€250€250
Brussels BRU207,707697 km€250€250
Palma de Mallorca PMI204,1831,480 km€250€250
Dublin DUB203,6861,454 km€250€250
Paris ORY194,549873 km€250€250
Helsinki HEL170,5551,320 km€250€250
Vienna VIE166,245278 km€250€250
Lisbon LIS164,4392,229 km€400€400
Istanbul SAW160,0741,551 km€400€400*
Athens ATH157,1271,556 km€400€400
Rhodes RHO148,8341,884 km€400€400
Stockholm ARN142,3391,087 km€250€250
Oslo OSL130,3481,140 km€250€250
Crete HER126,8001,864 km€400€400
Riga RIX120,665992 km€250€250
Budapest BUD120,458472 km€250€250

* only with an EU (or UK) airline. Passengers: Eurostat, both directions, routes reported by EU/EEA airports.

Air traffic flow delays at Václav Havel (2025)

EUROCONTROL records the delay imposed on arriving flights when the airport or the airspace around it cannot take more traffic (air traffic flow management, “ATFM”). In 2025, 69,793 flights arrived at PRG; 1,645 of them were held back this way, 910 by more than 15 minutes – an average of 0.56 minutes per arrival.

What caused the ATFM delay

  • weather95%
  • aerodrome capacity4%
  • ATC capacity1%

Average ATFM delay per arrival by month (min)

  1. J
  2. F
  3. M
  4. A
  5. M
  6. J
  7. J
  8. A
  9. S
  10. O
  11. N
  12. D

Worst days: 19 December 2025 – 5,613 minutes, mostly weather; 5 January 2025 – 3,456 minutes, mostly weather; 21 December 2025 – 3,030 minutes, mostly weather.

2026 so far (to 30 September 2026): 54,172 arrivals, 1.01 minutes of ATFM delay per arrival (worse than 2025), mainly weather (80%) and equipment (non-ATC) (17%).

Check what happened at PRG on your travel day →

What this means for a claim: ATFM delays come from weather (95% here), air traffic control capacity and staffing (1%) or airport limits – causes airlines often cite as extraordinary circumstances. They are only part of the story: most long delays come from the airline’s own operation (technical faults, crew, late inbound aircraft), which this data does not show. Source: EUROCONTROL.

Typical delay causes at Václav Havel Airport Prague

  • EUROCONTROL recorded 69,793 arrivals at PRG in 2025; 1,645 were held by air traffic flow restrictions, 910 of them by more than 15 minutes.
  • The largest single cause of this flow delay was weather (95%).
  • The worst day was 19 December 2025, with 5,613 minutes of flow delay, mostly weather.
  • Most long delays that earn compensation are not flow delays but airline problems – technical faults, crew shortages and late inbound aircraft – which do not count as extraordinary circumstances.

Airlines you are likely to fly with here

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    What happened?Step 1 of 4

    What happened to your flight?
    Where did you fly from and to?

    With a connection, enter your first departure and your final destination – compensation is based on the total distance.

    Details
    How late did you arrive at your final destination?

    What counts is when the aircraft doors opened at your destination – not the departure delay.

    When were you told about the cancellation?
    When did you arrive on the replacement flight?
    Flight details
    Which airline operated the flight?
    When was the flight?

    How many passengers were on the booking?

    1 passenger

    Every passenger gets their own compensation, children too. Infants under 2 without their own seat do not count.

    • Free, no sign-up
    • Fee only if successful (35%)
    • AirHelp: Trustpilot 4.5/5

    Rather skip the questions? Start a claim with AirHelp straight away

    Local information

    • Ask the airline staff at the gate for the reason for the delay or cancellation and write it down; take a photo of the departure board.
    • From 2 hours’ delay (depending on distance) the airline must give you meals and drinks, and a hotel if you are stuck overnight – keep the receipts if you had to pay yourself.
    • If the airline rejects your claim, complain to the national enforcement body of the country where the flight departed (or arrived, for flights from outside the EU), or go to court.

    Frequently asked questions

    Can I claim compensation for a flight departing from Václav Havel Airport Prague?

    Yes. PRG is an EU airport, so every flight departing from it is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004, whatever the airline and wherever it is based.

    Can I claim compensation for a flight arriving at Václav Havel Airport Prague?

    If the flight departed from an EU airport: yes, with any airline. If it departed from the UK: yes, under UK261, with any airline. If it departed from elsewhere: only if an EU airline operated it.

    How is the length of the delay measured?

    By your arrival time at your final destination – more precisely, the moment the aircraft door opens at the gate. It must be at least 3 hours after the scheduled arrival time.

    Related guides

    Information only, not legal advice. Passenger figures are approximate and based on the airports' published statistics; punctuality figures are from the UK Civil Aviation Authority. We earn a commission when a claim submitted through our partner links is successful.

    Sources

    1. Eurostat – air passenger transport routes between partner airports and main airports (2024) – Eurostat
    2. EUROCONTROL – airport arrival ATFM delays (open performance data) – EUROCONTROL

    We check every rule against the sources above. Spotted an error? Tell us – see our editorial policy.