Václav Havel Airport Prague in the Czech Republic has celebrated its 85th birthday with a special program of events including an interactive exhibition in Terminal 2.
This events program will focus on the airport’s history and will also include special airport tours and podcasts with the current chairman of the board Jiří Pos, as well as a newly launched website to celebrate the anniversary. There, visitors will find videos with period witnesses talking about the history and their experiences of the airport from the beginning of its operations through to the present day.
The anniversary events have been scheduled primarily for the first week of April 2022, with some planned for later during the year. The exhibition will open on April 5 and will include screens showing the historical development of the airport with a view to the future, and a new documentary about the airport. There will also be a photo corner, a display of historical and contemporary uniforms, and interactive games for children.
The first plane landed at the airport in Prague-Ruzyně on April 5, 1937. Since then, the airport, which was named after former president Václav Havel in 2012, has experienced many ups and, more recently, downs – its rise during the First Republic era, German occupation, the planned communist economy, the huge development after the Velvet Revolution and the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.
Pos said, “The 85th-anniversary celebration will be dignified. We have chosen a sensitive format, partly due to the pandemic and events in Ukraine. We have planned several events for the public. We designed special free-of-charge individual tours of the airport facilities. However as these are fully booked, we also made videos about the history and present days of the Prague-Ruzyně airport, alongside podcasts with period witnesses, and a short film recognizing the anniversary in a non-traditional form through a combination of acted and cartooned scenes. This is to ensure that those interested will not miss out on the in-person tours.”