ČŠA Czech Airlines will suspend flight operations in the current ownership structure. The last flight with an “OK” code is scheduled for Saturday 26 October 2024, on the route from Paris to Prague. ČSA is expected to continue operating in a different business model. Namely, the owner of the Czech national airline, Smartwings, is turning ČSA into a holding company, and all flights will be operated by Smartwings, both under its brand and under the ČSA brand.
ČSA Czech Airlines is one of the oldest airlines, founded in 1923, and celebrated its 100th anniversary last year. The first flight was made on the then-domestic Prague-Bratislava route, and the first international flight took place in 1930, on the Prague-Zagreb route. Through the turbulent and rich century-long history of the airline, marked by break-ups, re-assembly, and re-break-ups of the countries whose flag the aircraft carried, a total of 269 aircraft passed through the fleet of the Czech national airline.
In recent history, in 2013, the Czech state sold a 44% stake to Korean Air. Under that partnership, the company developed into a modern carrier and expanded its operations to long-haul flights to Seoul, with a leased Airbus A330 from the minority owner, Korean Air. In 2015, the company ceased to be majority state-owned with the entry of the then Travel Service (today’s Smartwings), that bought 34% of the shares. Korean Air exited ČSA in 2019 by selling its 44% stake, and Travel Service became the majority owner of 97.74% by consolidating shares and minority shareholders.
In 2019, Smartwings announced a fleet transition by ordering 4 Airbus A220s and three Airbus A321XLRs, intending to retire the existing ATR72 and Airbus A319 aircraft. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ČSA suspended operations with the only Airbus A330 that was returned to its owner, Korean Air in the same year. Later A321XLR orders were changed to A320neo, only to have all orders canceled during 2021. After insolvency, disputes over non-payment of debts, and confiscation of ownership of ATR72 aircraft, in the summer of 2022 ČSA operates only one Airbus A320 aircraft, and the flight network is reduced to only three routes. Later, a restructuring company was founded that bought a share in the carrier, and in May 2024, it was announced that ČSA would become a holding company and that flights would only be operated by the owner, Smartwings.
In addition to all of the above, ČSA Czech Airlines is leaving the SkyTeam association, the alliance confirmed for the Aviation Week portal. The carrier’s membership in the association is suspended with the last flight, i.e. ending on 26 October 2024.
The Czech national air carrier has been a member of SkyTeam almost since its foundation, i.e. in April 2001. “SkyTeam and its members thank CSA Czech Airlines for more than 20 years of partnership and wish our CSA Czech Airlines friends and colleagues the very best for the future. Given Czech Airlines’ current limited schedule and network, there will be little overall impact to SkyTeam’s global customer offering,” SkyTeam told Aviation Week.
