Czech Airlines
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| Founded | 1923 | |||
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| Hubs | Ruzyně Airport | |||
| Frequent flyer program | OK Plus | |||
| Member lounge | Crystal Lounge | |||
| Alliance | SkyTeam | |||
| Fleet size | 51 (+9 orders) | |||
| Destinations | 69 | |||
| Parent company | Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic | |||
| Headquarters | Prague, Czech Republic | |||
| Key people | Radomír Lašák (CEO) | |||
| Website | czechairlines.comhttp://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/button_extlink.png | |||
Czech Airlines j.s.c. (Czech: České aerolinie, a.s.), trading as Czech Airlines (abbreviation: ČSA), is the Czech national airline company based at Ruzyně Airport, Prague. It operates scheduled services to 69 destinations in 41 countries, including most major European cities and to transit points in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia. It also operates charter and cargo services.[2] Part of the tickets are sold through its subsidiary Click4Sky. In 2006 it carried over 5.5 million passengers and over 5.6 million in 2007. The airline runs a frequent flyer programme called "OK Plus" in reference to the airline's IATA designation, as well as the term of approval; OK also featured prominently in its previous livery. It is a member of the SkyTeam alliance.
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[edit] History
CSA was founded on October 6, 1923, by the Czechoslovak government as CSA ČeskoSlovenské Aerolinie. Twenty-three days later its first transport flight took place, flying between Prague and Bratislava. It operated only domestic services until its first international flight from Prague to Bratislava and on to Zagreb in 1930. After the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939 development of the airline was terminated.[2]
In February 1948, the Communist Party used the demission of right and center parties' ministers to take power in Czechoslovakia; later it suspended some western European and Middle East routes, and, also because of the embargo imposed by the West on the western-built aircraft spares etc., gradually replaced much of the fleet with Soviet-built airliners. The venerable Il-14 was even updated and built under licence in Czechoslovakia as the Avia Av-14.
In 1950, CSA became the world's first victim of a triple hijacking.[1] The three Czechoslovak airliners flown to the American air base in Erding, near Munich, stirred the world at both sides of the "burnt through" Iron Curtain and the case intensified the Cold war between the East and West overnight. Three Douglas Dakota airliners landed in the morning of 24 March near Munich instead of at Prague. The first one, from Brno, at 08:20, the second one from Moravská Ostrava at 08:40 and the third one from Bratislava at 09:20. Two thirds of the people on board were involuntary passengers who came back to Czechoslovakia later. That's why the Czechoslovak communists made the flight to freedom the "Kidnap to Erding". The book, the play and the film, bearing the same name soon celebrated the kidnapped returnees as heroes who had not let themselves be wheedled neither by capitalist opulence nor their promises. The non returnees who asked for political asylum in the American zone of West Germany were, on the other hand proclaimed criminals and the Prague regime asked for their extradition very vigorously - though in vain. The pilot from Brno Capt Josef Klesnil [2] an ex RAF Pilot, flew from Brno to Erding with a pistol at his head. "Mutiny In The Air Lanes", Time Magazine, Monday April 3rd 1950.
In 1957 CSA became the second of the world's airlines to fly jet services, (or third one, if one counts the disastrous first introduction of the de Havilland Comet airliner as a regular operation), taking delivery/putting in service the first Tupolev Tu-104A in 1957. Almost unknown is the fact that the CSA was also the world's first airline to fly the jet-only lines (other airlines used both jets and piston/turboprop aircraft on their lines simultaneously). The first transatlantic services started on 3 February 1962 with a flight to Havana,[2] using a Bristol Britannia turboprop leased from Cubana de Aviación. CSA's transatlantic flights were code-shared with Cuba's own services to Prague, and Cubana's crews provided initial training and assistance in the operation of the Britannias.
After absorbing the "heavier" part of the Slov-air operator and taking its Let L-410A Turbolet turboprop commuters into its fleet in early seventies, the ČSA partner Slov-air became the world's first airline whose captain, Ján Mičica, was slain at the controls by one of the hijackers, the event happening during a hijacking to Munich. Involved aircraft, OK-ADN is nowadays at display in open-air aircraft museum in Martin, Slovakia.
The Britannia was replaced with Ilyushin Il-18D turboprops in the late 1960s, and transatlantic routes were established to Montreal and New York, besides Havana. Tupolev Tu-134, Ilyushin Il-18, Ilyushin Il-62 Tupolev Tu-154 and modifications of these Soviet-built aircraft were used in CSA's European and intercontinental services. As was the case in several other countries, the Il-62 was the first long-range jet airliner to be put into operation by CSA and the plane featured prominently in the airline's promotions. CSA had 21 in service between 1969 and 1997, including 15 Il-62s and six (later model) Il-62Ms, of which 15 were registered under the OK designation and six were leased from Aeroflot. A CSA-registered Il-62 and three Il-62Ms were also used as Czech government transports between 1974 and 1996. In the 1990s, most of the Soviet-built aircraft were replaced with Western ones, such as the Boeing 737s and A310s, Airbus A320s, and short-range ATR aircraft.[citation needed]
After the breakup of the Czechoslovak Federation the airline adopted its present name in May 1995. CSA became a full member of the SkyTeam alliance on 18 October 2000. The airline is owned by the Czech Ministry of Finance (56.92%), Czech Consolidation Agency (34.59%) and other Czech institutions. It has 5,440 employees (at March 2007).[2]
[edit] Destinations
Czech Airlines operates 32 monopoly routes from Prague Airport, including three domestic routes to Brno, Ostrava and Karlovy Vary, alongside with the feeding routes from Slovak cities Košice, Žilina and Bratislava. These 32 routes represent about 40% of total flights and just over 30% of total capacity. On 27 other routes, representing around 40% of flights, the airline faces direct competition from one other carrier, while on 11 major European routes (Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Milan MXP, Paris CDG, Rome FCO and Thessaloniki) the airline faces two competitors face-on.
[edit]
Czech Airlines has the following codeshare agreements with fellow SkyTeam members (at November 2009): [3]
Aeroflot (Barnaul, Irkutsk, Kemerovo, Omsk) [via Moscow-Sheremetyevo]
Aeroméxico (Mexico City) [via Paris-CDG]
Air France (Bilbao, Bordeaux, Lisbon, Lyon, Mulhouse, Nice, Strasbourg, Toulouse) [via Paris-CDG]
Alitalia
- (Ancona, Bari, Catania, Florence, Lamezia Terme, Lisbon, Malta, Naples, Nice, Palermo, Pisa, Strasbourg, Trieste, Valencia) [via Milan-Malpensa]
- (Ancona, Bari, Catania, Florence, Genoa, Lameziaterme, Naples, Pisa, Trieste, Turin, Verona) [via Rome-Fiumicino]
Delta Air Lines
- (Atlanta, New York-JFK) [from Prague]
- (Buffalo, Cincinnati, Chicago-O'Hare, Fort Lauderdale, Norfolk, Orlando, Rochester, Tampa, Washington) [via New York-JFK]
Korean Air (Seoul-Incheon) [from Prague]
Also they have codeshare agreement with non-alliance members (at November 2009):
Jat Airways (Belgrade) [from Prague; operated by Czech Airlines]
[edit] Fleet
The Czech Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (at 19 October 2009):[4]
| Aircraft | In Service |
Orders | Passengers (Business/Economy) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A310-300 | 2 | 0 | 206 (18/188) | Long Haul |
| Airbus A319-100 | 7 | 9 | 135 | |
| Airbus A320-200 | 8 | 0 | 162 | |
| Airbus A321-200 | 2 | 0 | 212 | |
| ATR 42-300 | 1 | 0 | 46 | To be phased out |
| ATR 42-500 | 7 | 0 | 46 | Leased from Air Contractors 1 in SkyTeam livery |
| ATR 72-202 | 4 | 0 | 64 | |
| Boeing 737-400 | 7 | 0 | 144 162 |
1 to be wet-leased to DanubeWings |
| Boeing 737-500 | 10 | 0 | 108 | |
| Saab 340 | 2 | 0 | 34 | Operated by Central Connect Airlines |
| Total | 51 | 9 |
At 20 June 2009, the average age of the Czech Airlines fleet is 9.4 years ([5]).
[edit] Inflight services
Czech Airlines offers some buy on board service on some flights in addition to free service.[6][7]
[edit] Charter flights
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This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2009) |
In June 2007, CSA signed a contract with Exim Tours, the largest Czech travel agency, extending their contract for another three years. Under the agreement, CSA will continue to provide air travel services to Exim Tours' clients heading to destinations such as Varadero in Cuba, La Isla Margarita in Venezuela, La Romana in the Dominican Republic, as well as to destinations in Egypt, El Salvador, Tunisia and Greece.
Foreign tour operators, as well as sports teams and companies, use Czech Airlines’ charter flights. The share of flights for foreign clients, compared with the total number of Czech Airlines charter flights, is around 40 percent.
Czech Airlines charter flights carried 797,299 passengers last year.
[edit] References
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Wikinews has related news: Air France-KLM interested in acquiring Czech Airlines |
- ^ ICAO Doc. 8585 Edition 145
- ^ a b c d Flight International 3 April 2007
- ^ CSA Czech Airlines Codeshare Agreements
- ^ Amateur CSA Czech Airlines Fleet
- ^ http://www.airfleets.net/ageflotte/CSA.htm]
- ^ "Inflight Menu." Czech Airlines. Retrieved on 7 March 2009.
- ^ "12. 12. 2008 - Czech Airlines to Expand the Options to Purchase Additional Services." Czech Airlines. 12 December 2008. Retrieved on 7 March 2009.
