Czech Airlines


Czech Airlines j.s.c. is the flag carrier of the Czech Republic. Its head office is on the grounds of 6th district Prague, Vokovice. The airline's hub is at Václav Havel Airport Prague. The company operates mainly scheduled flights.
When, in 2018, 97.74% of Czech Airlines was bought by the privately-owned Smartwings, CSA became a part of the Smartwings Group. The airline runs a frequent flyer programme called "OK Plus" in reference to the airline's International Air Transport Association designation, as well as the term of approval; OK also featured prominently in its previous livery, and is the prefix of Czech Republic aircraft registrations. It is a member of the SkyTeam alliance. The remaining 2.26% of CSA is owned by insurance company Česká Pojišťovna.
In the summer season, CSA flies to 50 destinations in Asia and Europe. Czech Airlines carried 2.26 million passengers in 2016, which was a 13% increase compared to 2015. Czech Airlines Technics is responsible for aircraft maintenance.
CSA is the fifth oldest still operating airline in the world, after Dutch KLM, Colombian Avianca, Australian Qantas, and Soviet/Russian Aeroflot. It was the first airline in the world to fly regular jet-only routes.

History

Early years

CSA was founded on 6 October 1923, by the Czechoslovak government as ČSA Československé státní 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 Yugoslavia in 1930. After the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia in 1939 with the country splitting up into three parts, the airline was terminated.
Following a coup in February 1948, the Communist Party suspended some western European and Middle Eastern routes, and also gradually replaced much of the fleet with Soviet-built airliners, due to the embargo imposed by the West on the western-built aircraft spares and other equipment. The Ilyushin Il-14 was updated and built under licence in Czechoslovakia as the Avia-14.
In 1950, CSA became the world's first victim of a mass hijacking. Three Czechoslovak Douglas DC-3 airliners flown to an American airbase in Erding, near Munich, stirred the world on both sides of the "burnt through" Iron Curtain and the case intensified the Cold War between East and West overnight. On the morning of 24 March the three aircraft landed near Munich instead of at Prague; the first from Brno, at 08:20, the second 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 later returned to Czechoslovakia. The Czechoslovak Communist government commissioned a 'flight to freedom' book, stage play, and film which celebrated the kidnapped returnees as heroes who had not allowed themselves to be swayed by promises of capitalist opulence. The non-returnees who requested political asylum in West Germany were, on the other hand, proclaimed criminals and the Prague government vigorously requested their extradition – although in vain. The pilot from Brno was Josef Klesnil,
a former Royal Air Force pilot with 311 squadron, who flew from Brno to Erding with a pistol at his head.
In 1957 CSA became the third of the world's airlines to fly jet services, taking delivery/putting in service the first Tupolev Tu-104A in 1957. ČSA was the only airline other than Aeroflot to operate the Tu-104. The service operated by the Tu-104A from 1957 between Prague and Moscow was the first jet-only connection. The first transatlantic services started on 3 February 1962 with a flight to Havana, using a Bristol Britannia turboprop leased from Cubana de Aviación. CSA's transatlantic flights were code-shared with Cubana's services to Prague, and Cubana's crews provided initial training and assistance in the operation of the Britannias.

1960 to 1990

From the late 1960s, CSA used a range of Soviet-built aircraft, and modifications of them, for its extensive European and intercontinental services which totalled some 50 international and 15 domestic destinations. The Britannia was replaced with long-range Ilyushin Il-18D turboprops at this time, and transatlantic routes were established to Montreal and New York City, besides Havana. Apart from the Il-18D, other aircraft in CSA's fleet included the short-range Tupolev Tu-134, the medium-range Tupolev Tu-154, and the long-range Ilyushin Il-62. 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. CSA operated a fleet of 21 Il-62s between 1969 and 1997 including 15 Il-62s and six Il-62Ms. A CSA-registered Il-62 and three Il-62Ms were used as official Czech government transports between 1974 and 1996.
After absorbing the "heavier" part of Slov-air and taking its Let L-410A Turbolet turboprop commuters into its fleet in the early 1970s, the ČSA partner Slov-air became the world's first airline whose captain, Ján Mičica, was slain at the controls by a hijacker, the event happening during a hijacking to West Germany. The aircraft involved, OK-ADN is nowadays displayed in an open-air aircraft museum in Martin, Slovakia.

The 1990s and 2000s

After the breakup of the Czechoslovak Federation, the airline adopted its present name in May 1995. By the late 1990s, most of the Soviet aircraft were either sold on to other airlines or retired, and replaced with Western ones such as the Boeing 737, the Airbus A310 and the Airbus A320. CSA became a full member of the SkyTeam alliance on 18 October 2000. As of March 2007 the airline, with 5,440 employees, was owned by the Czech Ministry of Finance, Czech Consolidation Agency, and other Czech institutions.
On 1 January 2010, the whole non-office ground staff of CSA was transferred to the subsidiary ČSA Support, now named Czech airlines handling s.r.o.
In February 2010, ČSA a.s. sold off its duty-free shops to another entity.
EU competition regulators began an investigation into Czech Airlines on 23 February 2011, stating that it doubted the loss-making concern could return to viability and comply with European Union state aid regulations.
In late 2012, CSA Czech Airlines announced plans for expansion and to resume long-haul flights from summer 2013 with Airbus A330 aircraft between Prague and Seoul. Since March 2013, the company operates direct flights from Prague to Perm, Nice, Munich, Zurich, Seoul, and Florence.
Upon the completion of stock sales to Korean Air on 10 April 2013, CSA Czech Airlines was owned by Czech Aeroholdings, a.s. and Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd.. On May 14, 2013, Czech Airlines Extraordinary General shareholders' meeting elected Cho Won-tae as a new member of its Supervisory Board. Cho replaced Petr Matousek, who resigned from his position in the Supervisory Board. This personnel change took effect on 1 June 2013 as a result of Korean Air's equity purchase.
In April 2015 Travel Service Group bought 34% of the airline, over which Korean Air had an option. In 2016 the airline returned to profit for the first time in many years.
On 6 October 2017, Korean Air announced the sale of its 44-percent stake in Czech Airlines, which it held for four years, to Travel Service. Travel Service then owned 78.9 percent of CSA. The Czech state company Prisko owned 20 percent of CSA. Travel Service later also acquired Prisko's stake, enabling Travel Service a 97.74% stake in the airline.

Latest developments

In March 2019, Smartwings announced that CSA will transition its fleet, with the Airbus A319 and ATR 72 aircraft to be retired. In October 2019, Czech Airlines announced an order for four Airbus A220-300 and three A321XLR, which had been converted from orders for the A320neo.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Czech Airlines announced in April 2020 to terminate their sole long-haul route to Seoul, which will not be restarted after operations resume. Therefore their sole Airbus A330 is to be returned to lessor Korean Air by October 2020.
As of 5 July 2020, CSA does not operate any long haul aircraft, as their only A330-300, OK-YBA, will be returned to lessor Korean Air.

Corporate affairs

Head office

In 2016, Czech Airlines head office moved to Evropská street in 6th district, Prague, district Vokovice. Main reason was a lower price. Czech Airlines formerly had its head office, the APC Building, on the grounds of Václav Havel Airport Prague in Ruzyně, 6th district, Prague. On 30 December 2009 CSA announced that it will sell its head office to the airport for CZK 607 million.

Financial results

Since its transformation to a joint stock company in August 1992, ČSA has never paid dividends. The sale of a minority share to Air France was a fiasco leading to withdrawal of the French airline. Subsequently, Antonín Jakubše and Miroslav Kůla stabilised the company and enlarged its fleet. In September 2003, Miroslav Kůla was fired. New CEO, ex-minister Jaroslav Tvrdík, agreed with the unions to increase wages by a third and announced "unprecedented" enlargement of the fleet.
In 2005, the financial situation sharply deteriorated. Although the sale of two ATR aircraft improved the operating result by CZK 198 million, the operating loss was almost half a billion Czech crowns and the Government of Jiří Paroubek replaced Jaroslav Tvrdík with Radomír Lašák. The airline generated further operating losses, despite revenue of CZK 2.1 bn from the sale of almost all real estate and CZK 1.2 bn from sales of aircraft. In 2005-2010, ČSA generated an operating loss of CZK 3.4 bn; without long-term asset sales revenues, the operating loss would have been twice as large. The gross margin did not even cover the personnel expenses.
In 2016, the airline handled 2.7 million passengers and announced a net profit of 241 million crowns.

billion CZK20052006200720082009201020112012201320142005-14
Sales21.524.024.023.220.416.914.813.710.29.5178.2
Cost of sales
Gross margin3.25.45.44.52.22.62.11.50.20.727.8
Personnel cost
Disposals of LT assets0.20.20.61.40.40.80.30.10.03.8
Reserves0.30.30.50.11.10.21.1
Other
Operating profit''0.50.7'''0.8'''

Former subsidiaries

Logo

A new look for Czech Airlines was revealed in September 2007. The new logo was created by Michal Kotyza, who works for the airline.

Livery

Destinations

As of the summer season 2019, Czech Airlines flies to 27 year-round and 5 seasonal destinations in 24 countries. Flights are operated mainly in Europe, with a small number of Asian destinations Beirut, and Riyadh. Including codeshare partners, CSA flies to more than 110 destinations and 45 countries from Prague.
Before major cuts to its network, Czech Airlines used to operate 32 monopoly routes from Prague, including one domestic route to Ostrava which does not exist anymore, alongside the feeder route from Košice in Slovakia. These 32 routes represented about 40% of total flights and just over 30% of total capacity.

Codeshare agreements

Czech Airlines codeshares with the following airlines:
In June 2007, CSA signed a contract with Exim Tours, the largest Czech travel agency, extending their contract for another three years. In May 2010, CSA withdrew its last Airbus A310 and Exim Tours signed a new contract with Travel Service Airlines from winter 2010/2011.

Fleet

Current fleet

, the Czech Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Historical fleet

Czech or Czechoslovak Airlines operated these aircraft types in the past:

Catering

Czech Airlines offers buy on board service on some flights in addition to free service.

Frequent-flyer program

The OK Plus frequent flyer programme gives passengers "OK Plus Miles" for flights with Czech Airlines, SkyTeam member airlines, other partner airlines or non-airline partners such as hotels, car rentals, banks etc. OK Plus membership cards are available with the following tier levels: OK Plus membership, OK Plus Silver, OK Plus Gold, and OK Plus Platinum. The higher the card level, the greater the number of benefits passengers receive.

Accidents and incidents

Fatal accidents