Thick winter fog blanketed Václav Havel Airport Prague from the evening of 15 December into the afternoon of 16 December, forcing air-traffic controllers to activate low-visibility procedures. Real-time data at 20:24 CET showed 73 % of departures and 41 % of arrivals running late, with average delays of nearly an hour. No flights were cancelled, but British Airways, Jet2 and Ryanair services to key business hubs such as London, Birmingham and Naples were pushed deep into the night.
The disruption struck during the pre-Christmas corporate-travel peak, stranding hundreds of executives and logistics staff who use Prague as a Central-European hub. Under EU Regulation 261/2004 airlines are not obliged to pay cash compensation when delays are weather-related, but they must provide meals and refreshments after two hours—an obligation that stretched airport catering resources. Freight forwarders meanwhile reported backlogs of up to five hours at the Skyport cargo terminal, threatening just-in-time supply chains into Bavaria and Slovakia.
The incident exposes a structural vulnerability: Prague still operates primarily on a single runway, and a parallel CAT IIIb-equipped strip is at least four years away. Until that capacity comes online, risk consultants advise companies to build longer layovers into itineraries between December and February and to keep alternative routings via Vienna or Munich on standby.
![Severe Fog Causes 70 % Departure Delays at Prague Airport, Disrupting Corporate Travel]()
Travel-management companies are urging clients to use airline apps for live gate alerts and to maintain valid multi-entry Schengen visas in case rerouting through non-Schengen airports becomes necessary. Where last-minute itinerary changes create documentation gaps, specialist visa services can obtain emergency Czech or Schengen permits within 24 hours.
At those critical moments, VisaHQ steps in as a one-stop solution: the company’s dedicated Czech-Republic portal (https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/) lets travellers and corporate mobility managers lodge rush applications, track status in real time and access live support, ensuring documents are in hand before the next available flight.
Meteorologists warn that similar fog events are likely in the coming weeks. Mobility planners should revisit duty-of-care policies—especially for assignees carrying critical medical or semiconductor components—and pre-authorise hotel budgets to avoid night-of travel chaos. The episode is a reminder that weather, not just policy, can upend global-mobility schedules.
The disruption struck during the pre-Christmas corporate-travel peak, stranding hundreds of executives and logistics staff who use Prague as a Central-European hub. Under EU Regulation 261/2004 airlines are not obliged to pay cash compensation when delays are weather-related, but they must provide meals and refreshments after two hours—an obligation that stretched airport catering resources. Freight forwarders meanwhile reported backlogs of up to five hours at the Skyport cargo terminal, threatening just-in-time supply chains into Bavaria and Slovakia.
The incident exposes a structural vulnerability: Prague still operates primarily on a single runway, and a parallel CAT IIIb-equipped strip is at least four years away. Until that capacity comes online, risk consultants advise companies to build longer layovers into itineraries between December and February and to keep alternative routings via Vienna or Munich on standby.
Travel-management companies are urging clients to use airline apps for live gate alerts and to maintain valid multi-entry Schengen visas in case rerouting through non-Schengen airports becomes necessary. Where last-minute itinerary changes create documentation gaps, specialist visa services can obtain emergency Czech or Schengen permits within 24 hours.
At those critical moments, VisaHQ steps in as a one-stop solution: the company’s dedicated Czech-Republic portal (https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/) lets travellers and corporate mobility managers lodge rush applications, track status in real time and access live support, ensuring documents are in hand before the next available flight.
Meteorologists warn that similar fog events are likely in the coming weeks. Mobility planners should revisit duty-of-care policies—especially for assignees carrying critical medical or semiconductor components—and pre-authorise hotel budgets to avoid night-of travel chaos. The episode is a reminder that weather, not just policy, can upend global-mobility schedules.
