A while back we went over what were some of the oldest airports in the world. Of course, these airports wouldn’t have been in existence, or perhaps wouldn’t have lasted as long as they have, if not for the airlines that flew in and out of them for (checks calendar) well over 100 years.
Unfortunately, one of those airlines – the 5th oldest airline in the world – is calling it a day and will close up shop. Well, sort of.
The early days: ČSA
Czech Airlines, founded on Oct. 6, 1923, was originally named Czechoslovak State Airlines (ČSA). It flew only domestically until 1930 when it flew from Prague to Bratislava to Zagreb.
The new name: Czech Airlines
The airline changed to its modern-day name in 1995 following the breakup of the Czechoslovak Federation. It was the flag carrier of the Czech Republic.
A checkered history
At one point it was one of the largest airlines in Eastern Europe. However, over the years it had its figurative ups and downs:
- 1950: ČSA became the world’s first victim of a mass hijacking.
- 1957: ČSA became the third airline to fly jet services, taking delivery of and putting into service the very first Tupolev Tu-104A (ČSA was the only airline besides Aeroflot to operatre the Tu-104).
- 1962: The airline’s first transatlantic service (to Cuba) began.
- 2001: Became a full member of the SkyTeam alliance.
- 2007: The airlines was owned by the Czech Ministry of Finance (56.92%), the Czech Consolidation Agency (34.59%), and other Czech institutions.
- 2010: The airline sold their duty-free shops to another entity.
- 2011: EU regulators began an investigation into the airline, stating that it doubted the loss-making concern could return to viability and comply with European Union state aid regulations.
- 2013: The airline was owned by Czech Aeroholdings and Korean Air Lines.
- 2015: Travel Service Group (a.k.a. Smartwings) bought 34% of the airline.
- 2016: The airline reported a profit for the first time in several years.
- 2017: Korean Air sold its stake in the airline to Travel Service Group/Smartwings. By the end of that year, Smartwings owned over 97% of the airline.
- 2019: The airline announced plans to purchase 7 Airbuses in a fleet transition.
- 2020: Czech Airlines ended its long-suspended long-haul flight to/from Seoul in April 2020. They also fell into insolvency and applied for a moratorium in August of that year.
- 2021: Two of the airline’s planes were seized due to unpaid debts. The airline also cancelled its 2019 Airbus order and filed for bankruptcy.
- 2022: Czech Airlines was eventually down to 3 scheduled routes.
A sad ending
Overall, the airline was a victim of mismanagement and the effects of the pandemic, which eventually led to its operating only 2 routes.
Chech Airlines’ website says it’s “a modern airlines with more than a century of tradition.” However in May 2024, it was announced that Czech Airlines would be repurposed into a holding company while Smartwings took over its operations.
The airline is scheduled to terminate its operations on October 26th. Its last flight will arrive from Paris that evening, after which time both of its remaining routes (from Prague’s Václav Havel Airport to Paris and Madrid) will operate under Smartwings’ livery.
As for its SkyTeam alliance
A SkyTeam representative told Aviation Week, “Given Czech Airlines’ current limited schedule and network, there will be little overall impact to SkyTeam’s global customer offering.
“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”
What are the other 4 oldest airlines?
I was wondering if you were going to ask 😉 They are:
4. Aeroflot (Russia, 1923)
3. Qantas (Australia, 1919)
2. Avianca (Colombia, 1919)
1. KLM (The Netherlands, 1919)
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