11 ︱Václav Havel Airport Prague (Prague Airport) – access and movement rules for persons enjoying diplomatic privileges and immunities

Václav Havel Airport Prague has issued a detailed handbook and a graphical manual with updated information about the rules of movement of members of diplomatic missions in areas of the Airport that replace the previous text of the chapter 11 of the Diplomatic Protocol Handbook I.

Information is extended by a paragraph about terminal 3 and the contacts are updated.

The instructions are not changed significantly, the current forms still apply.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs provides additional information  on the following chapters:

 

VIP Service Club CONTINENTAL

 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic pays for the club’s services, including the cost of refreshments served in the club, when the club is used by Ministers of Foreign Affairs on official or working visits to the Czech Republic or by other visitors invited by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. The club may also be used by ambassadors accredited to the Czech Republic upon their first arrival to and final departure from Prague. In such case, the Ministry pays for the use of the club and for refreshments served to the ambassador, his family members and specified members of the embassy staff and representatives of the sending State. The Ministry does not pay for any refreshments served to the ambassador’s guests.

All departing passengers must go through security screening before leaving the lounge. The checkpoint is located at the exit to the apron area. A passenger can take with him a maximum of four (4) persons to the apron area; these persons must ask the lounge personnel for permission to enter the area. They will have to wear single-entry badges and go through the same security screening as the departing passenger.

Staff members coming to the club to meet or take leave of visitors must, on request, present their valid ID cards issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.

 

Security screening of departing passengers and baggage (including diplomatic bags)

Security screening of passengers and baggage is required by Act No. 49/1997 concerning civil aviation as amended, Regulation (EC) No 300/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council, national aviation regulation L-17 as amended, the current version of the National Civil Aviation Security Programme, and the Prague Airport Security Programme.

The above regulations require passengers, air crews and other persons seeking to enter SRAs to undergo security screening and to permit the inspection of their baggage and cargo. There are no exemptions *).   

 

The above means that diplomats, VIP passengers, diplomatic couriers and other persons enjoying privileges and immunities under the Vienna Conventions must undergo security screening.

 

*) However the Civil Aviation Authority of the Czech Republic published a decision to exempt from the mandatory security screening a certain category of VIP passengers departing from an international airport in the Czech Republic at the conclusion of a working or official visit to the Czech Republic, provided that the visit was made on the basis of an invitation from the Czech side. The exemption took effect on 1 July 2016 and after additional extention of exempted VIP passengers on 1 September 2017, the category includes the following persons:

 

Head of State,

Speaker of Parliament (Speakers of both parliamentary chambers, in the case of bicameral parliaments)

Prime Minister,

Minister of Foreign Affairs,

President of the European Commission,

President of the European Council,

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission.

 

The exemption does not apply to family members and cabin luggage of the passengers listed above.

Airport guide (PDF, 747 KB)

Graphical manual to the airport guide (PDF, 5 MB)

11.7. Annexes

1.    Request form – application for entrance for diplomatic mission to non-public area of LKPR (Annex A1)

Request form –authorised guide (airport security officer) (Annex A2)

Form – authorized signatures (entrances for cars – main road) (Annex A3)