Yes, absolutely. Prague is quite a realistic destination even VFR, even though I hope by then this won’t be an issue for me anymore.
Apart, Prague is a very interesting place to visit and I’d definitly like to do it.
Vodochody LKVO is a dead loss now, charging about €200 (new for 2014) and open or closed apparently randomly.
Vodochody LKVO is a private GA airport, and is open on request.
We are heading to Prague this Thursday, and I just got PPR confirmed from LKVO.
The working hours at Vodochody LKVO are 08:00-16:00 during weekdays. This can be extended upon request (without any cost up to 22:00).
For weekend arrival/departures there is an additional 5000CZK (=181EUR) charge. If you can work around that, by i.e. arriving on Friday afternoon, and departing Monday morning, then LKVO certainly is an option for visiting Prague.
Quote I got:
Full pricelist here: http://www.lkvo.cz/cenik
Is it completely unrealistic to negotiate that additional weekend charge if we’re coming as a loose group? I.e. in principle every A/C would have to pay that additional fee individually, but if the purpose of the fee is to make up for the additional effort of opening the airport on the weekend, maybe the fee could be reduced…
I’d be interested. Sounds like a great trip. The Technicke’ Museum is well worth an afternoon.
looks indeed like LKVO is a valid option as long as one can avoid the weekend. Friday in, Monday out. Trouble however is customs, which they do not have. So for me it would probably be LKPR in the end… If one calculates all the additional costs of going to LKVO (taxi 2x 40 Euros, one more landing to get there and back) e.t.c one might come close to what there is to pay at the international airport, where transport to the city is fairly easy and cheap
Why not Letnany? That’s a superb GA airfield by any definition. A lot of traffic, a lot of high end machines, two parallel runways. If the weather is going to be bad, I wouldn’t fly to Prague in the first place so IFR procedures are not really that relevant to me.
Even if I can see what is meant, I can’t really agree: Prague is a city that has a lot to offer even in bad weather. Museums, opera, beer cellars… you name it. Much better than the Mediterranean rendez-vous that some here seem to prefer… Then again, I am not going to fly in IFR anyway, but I think you knew that ;)
As regards Letnany: I would certainly fly there as soon as the occasion comes – but to call it superb? I’ve heard claims that at least one of the runways is a collection of potholes, others claim that an English speaking AFIS operator requires 24 hours PNR… Not that it would keep me back, but it is the place really superlative?
Letnany is just another bit of grass. The condition seems OK. I was there in July this year.
Even if I can see what is meant, I can’t really agree: Prague is a city that has a lot to offer even in bad weather.
Yes and I’ve been there countless times. But I have a more convenient and much cheaper way to get there: several airline flights a day. I wouldn’t use my airplane to fly to a place with bad weather. No fun in it.
Letnany is great, it is very rare that a metropolis of this size and quality is served by a convenient airfield with the metro station next to it. The runways are fine, the pothole story is probably from people that never land on grass otherwise. I’ve seen Mooneys, Cheyennes, Cirrus etc. there. English was never a problem and I never announced my coming (I don’t even need a flight plan coming from Germany VFR). Letnany is a real GA place with lots of people and aircraft, not a sterile airport where only the handling agent greets you.
I took a bus to Praha last year (because it was the fastest way and we didn’t want to park the car), then the metro to Letnany and a local bus from there to Kbely. I should have walked across the street to see the place. A 152 was doing circuits as we emerged from underground. In nice weather it’d sure be fun to fly there for a 3-day weekend!
BTW, the Praha metro is the cleanest I’ve seen and unlike some others the ticketing is easy to understand.
