FlightDetent thanks, that's an excellent articulation of the necessary trade-offs, which I shall shamelessly steal.
In the case of Prague, the trade-offs would swing more easily behind "build it", if it were to the north of the existing one, since it would be further away from the city. That raises another point that maybe people can clarify. I have often heard it said that current practice is for new runways, or new airports to be located further away from the urban centres they serve, rather than nearer to them. Is that anything more than just a vague convention? (e.g. has anyone heard of "Brussels" seeking to enshrine it in a directive?). And if so is there a 'safety' element in that convention as well as environmental?.
As far as I know Prague Airport does not consider this because quite simply it does not own land to the north. I found that the northern perimeter fence is also the City boundary. That ought not to matter legislatively for a national asset, but planning law here is not fit for purpose. All kinds of transport infrastructure projects here are delayed interminably because the State cannot easily requisition land.
deltahotel thanks for list of single runway UK airports, very helpful. If anyone can think of similar configurations in North/West/Central Europe for an airport of similar importance, I'd be very grateful. Prague serves a city of 1.3m, has 2 public terminals, and is claiming a current passenger capacity of 21m. I'm not sure about aircraft movement capacities, but I'm only looking for general analogous airports which transport people would see as facing similar challenges.
Again, thanks so much, and I promise to clear off shortly
