Ruzyne Airport Renamed Vaclav Havel Airport Prague
Prague, 5/10/2012 The Ruzyne Airport Prague has a new name. In a noon ceremony on Friday, the airport was renamed Vaclav Havel Airport Prague. Those present to speak included Miroslav Dvorak, General Director and Chairman of the Board of Cesky Aeroholding, Karel Schwarzenberg, vice-chairman of the Government of the Czech Republic, and Bohuslav Svoboda, Mayor of Prague. Minister of Finance Miroslav Kalousek delivered a speech on behalf of the owner of Cesky Aeroholding. The presentation was concluded by remarks from Dagmar Havel.
The official ceremony, the culmination of months of preparations for the name switch, was hosted by Marek Eben. The police band, Hudba Hradni Straze and Policie CR, provided the music. More than 700 people representing all walks of Czech social, cultural and political life were there for the ceremony. In addition to those taking the dais, Senate head Milan Stech, Senate First Vice Chair Premysl Sobotka, Senate Vice-Chair Alena Paleckova, Transportation Minister Pavel Doves, Interior Minister Alexander Vondra and others from both houses of Parliament were present, along with ambassadors to the Czech Republic, members of President Havel’s immediate circle and airport business partners. The new name, Vaclav Havel Airport Prague, will be used starting today on airport terminals, the airport’s public address system, city buses, onboard aircraft, on airport buses and in the corporate materials of Letiste Praha, where it will appear on packaging, letterhead paper and the company website (www.prg.aero). The formal ceremony was accompanied by the opening of a photography exhibition focused on Vaclav Havel featuring pictures from the Czech Press Association archives taken from an exhibition presented in the Old Town Hall. The exhibition is located in Terminal 2 and will be open until the end of the year so that members of the public at large will have adequate opportunity to visit. A permanent memorial to Vaclav Havel has been created by the architect Borek Sipek and his team. The piece, called Forum Havlum, is located at the end of the corridor connecting Terminal 1 and 2. Until the end of October, the airport cinema will feature films about Vaclav Havel. The cinema is open to the public free of charge.