With two aircraft, the fifth oldest carrier currently flies only to Paris and Hurghada.
Czech Airlines is celebrating 99 years since its foundation today. The fifth oldest operating airline in the world is only a year away from reaching the historic milestone of one hundred years. ČSA has been hit hard by the effects of the coronavirus outbreak, the carrier having to cancel a large number of links. Due to the losses, it had laid off around 300 workers the previous year. Last February, the company notified the employment office of its intention to lay off all 430 employees. ČSA has been bankrupt since last March, then the court cleared their reorganization, which was successful. The company has fulfilled the essential parts of the plan, including the repayment of part of the debts.
A new investor joined the company this year under conditions, which became Prague City Air, founded in January and owned by the owners of the Smartwings group, Jiří Šimáně and Roman Vik. Due to the crisis, the airline’s fleet has shrunk, it currently owns only one Airbus A319. In addition, machines with OK-REQ registration risk being sold and dismantled for spare parts. The second aircraft, an OK-HEU registered Airbus A320, is leased only by ČSA.
“ČSA plans to include two A320 aircraft in the fleet starting in spring,“Smartwings Group spokesperson Vladimíra Dufková said recently. It should be a multi-year operating lease. Next year, the first new Airbus A220-300 aircraft is also expected to appear in the fleet. In the 2017 summer season, Czech Airlines still has operated regular routes to 50 destinations in 25 countries in Europe and Asia, currently flying only to Paris and Hurghada.
On the day of its 99th birthday, or 6/10/2022, ČSA only served the line to Paris at Charles de Gaulle airport. A machine with OK-REQ registration was deployed on flight OK760, carrying 99 passengers. 116 passengers then returned to Prague.
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