CRYM-AVIA: Ukraine (1993-1994). Crym-Avia is established at Simpheropol Airport in the Crimea in 1993 to offer scheduled services to Kiev and other regional destinations. Vladimir A. Anufriev is named CEO and he inaugurates services with an all-Tupolev fleet of Tu-154s and Tu-134s. Operations continue just over a year.
CSA AIR: Ford Airport, Iron Mountain, Michigan 49801, United States; Phone (906) 774-3101; Fax (906) 774-6540; Year Founded 1986. Wayne Ross forms CSA Air at Iron Mountain, Michigan, in late 1986 to provide scheduled cargo services to destinations throughout the upper Midwest, many on behalf of express operators and freight forwarders. A wholly owned subsidiary of Mountain Air Cargo, the company is outfitted with Cessna 208 Caravan Is provided by the parent.
All shareholding in the Mountain Air Cargo subsidiary is transferred to MAC’s parent, Atlanta-based Air Transportation Holding Company, on April 1, 1990. The number of Caravans is increased to 21.
On March 31, 1991, both MAC and CSA Air become exclusive servants of Federal Express, signing agreements that the major can cancel on a month’s notice. Operations continue during the remainder of the decade, during which time President Ross increases his fleet by 7 Caravans.
CSA CZECH AIRLINES, A. S.: Airport Praha, Ruzyne, 16008, Czech Republic; Phone 42 (4) 481-5183; Fax 42 (4) 481-5183; Http://www. csa. cz; Code OK; Year Founded 1995. Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the former CSA Czechoslovak Airlines is renamed CSA Czech Airlines on March 26, 1995. Shareholding is split among the Fund for National Property, Konsolidscri Bank, and EBRD. There is no change in the airline’s legal status or existing agreements or alliances. Antonin Jakubse is president.
During the year, employment inches up 0.2% to 3,900 and 24 aircraft are retained in the fleet. New services begin to Hanover and Stuttgart.
A code-sharing and joint service agreement begins with TAROM Romanian Airlines, S. A. in April covering flights from Prague to Bucharest. The last CSA flights between Ostrava and Prague are concluded during the summer; thereafter, the company enters into a block-seat, code-sharing agreement with Air Ostrava, S. R.O. covering that carrier’s six daily return flights between the two cities.
In October, a blocked-seat arrangement commences with Swissair, A. G. on services between Prague and Zurich. Simultaneously, the company inaugurates code-sharing with MALEV Hungarian Airlines on frequencies between Prague and Budapest. Meanwhile, loads on the previously instituted dual-designator route with LOT Polish Airlines, S. A. from Prague to Warsaw grows by 60%.
Enplanements climb 20.1% to 1,488,317 while freight transport increases 17.3% to 25.62 million FTKs.
There is no change in the workforce during 1996 and the owned fleet now includes 4 Avions de Transport Regional ATR72s, 2 Airbus Industrie A310-304s, 5 B-737-55Ss, 3 Tupolev Tu-134As, and 4 Tu-154Ms. Also operated are 2 chartered ATR42-320s and 2 B737-4Y0s.
In January, the company negotiates a code-sharing agreement with Continental Airlines that covers its daily flights from Prague to Newark and on 24 selected Continental domestic services originating from the New Jersey airport. The first enhanced ATR42-400 is delivered to the company during the third week of March. A second arrives at month’s end.
The dual-designator flights with Continental Airlines commence on April 1. During the month, the carrier announces that it will upgrade its fleet with 10 more Boeing 737s that will replace old Soviet equipment.
In order pay for its fleet upgrade, CSA reveals, on June 21, that it has reached agreement with Ceskoslovenska Obchodni Banka and CIBC Wood Gundy of Canada for a $350-million financing package. Four more chartered ATR42-320s enter service during the summer; however, the two units leased previously are replaced by two owned ATR42-320s.
An exchange-of-seats arrangement begins with Alitalia, S. p.A. in October on frequencies from Prague to Rome and Milan.
Later in the year, a subsidiary and infrastructure division is created to coordinate the work of four new subsidiaries created over the last two years: CSAAirtours, A. S., Slovak Air Services, S. R.O., Amadeus Marketing CSA, S. R.O., and CSA Services, S. R.O.
A company A310-304 is shown landing and taxiing in the opening scenes of the motion picture Hidden Assassin, starring Dolph Lundgren and Maruschka Detmers, filmed in Prague during the year.
Traffic figures are mixed. Customer bookings accelerate 8.3% to 1,612,126, but only 22.21 million FTKs are operated, a 4.2% decline.
Airline employment is increased by 1.9% in 1997 to 3,976. At the beginning of the year, shareholding is divided between the national government (56.4%), the Prague municipal government (2.9%), and private investors (40.7%).
The first link between a Japanese airline and East European carriers occurs on January 18 when Japan Air Lines Company, Ltd. (2) signs code-sharing agreements, effective in the summer, with CSA and MALEV Hungarian Airlines. Flights from Tokyo (NRT) or Osaka (KIX) to Frankfurt will be able to make seamless connections on to the partner lines for flights to Prague and Budapest. Between now and June, JAL will aggressively market the new alliance.
The first of 3 new B-737-55Ss to arrive during the year is delivered on February 20. On April 5, a $350-million order is confirmed with Boeing for 10 B-737-500s, which will be phased in to replace outdated Russian equipment. They will be paid for with the financial package announced the previous year.
It is revealed on March 27 that the Russian federation aviation agency has refused to continue its agreement with Czech Airlines and will not to grant it authority to conduct flights for the summer season from Bratislava and Prague to Moscow. The decision will cost the Czech carrier $75,000 in lost income.
Two more “Baby Boeings” arrive, one each in April and May, at which point all of the Tupolevs are retired from scheduled service and assigned to charter operations.
Ablocked-space agreement begins with Air France in May on flights from Prague to Paris. The two-year-old joint services and code-sharing agreement with TAROM Romanian Airlines, S. A. ceases in June. Also during the month, a new North Terminal is opened at Ruzyne Airport at Prague.
At this point, the new dual-designator services with JAL begin. Codesharing on domestic routes begins with Air Ostrava, S. R.O. during the summer.
In anticipation of a healthy winter charter business — much of it booked via the wholly owned CSAAirtours subsidiary—the company in late September leases 2 of the 6 Tu-154Ms owned by VIA Bulgarian Airlines. These are joined in nonscheduled service to Greece, Turkey, and Spain by the company’s last 4 Tu-154Ms.
Also during September, a marketing agreement is entered into with Continental Airlines. Under the arrangement, the two companies link their frequent flyer programs and share their codes on flights to and from the U. S. and on connections in America.
In November, it is announced that, for the past year, CSA has had the fewest number of delays due to technical reasons of any member of the Association of European Airlines (AEA). A third phase in the upgrading of Prague’s Ruzyne Airport is completed late in the month.
The last 3 of 14 Tu-134As operated by the company are retired in December.
Passenger boardings accelerate 7.5% to 1,733,657 while freight increases 4.3% to 23.1 million FTKs. A $3.2-million net profit (later adjusted to $2.7 million) is celebrated.
Airline employment stands in 1998 at 3,976.
The British Broadcasting Corporation reports on February 22 that the airline has started a new regular service between Moscow and the Czech resort town of Karlovy Vary. Many newly rich Russians have moved to the area since the fall of the Soviet Union, buying up property and even setting up a Russian school and Orthodox Church.
Three new B-737-55Ss arrive during the spring as new dualdesignator routes are started with Air Ostrava, S. R.O. to Ljubljana and Strasbourg. International service is initiated to Amman, Bologna, Nice, and Oslo.
Led by Transport and Communications Minister Petr Moos, the government, in July, announces that, because CSA had turned its 1996 loss into a 1997 profit, the government would not provide the airline with a promised 500-million koruna ($15 million) cash injection. The airline responds by noting that it still requires the funds in order to increase its capital and make it attractive to a strategic partner.
At the end of August, an agreement is signed with Hapag-Lloyd Fluggesellschaft, mbH. under which the Prague-based scheduled operator will perform certification checks on the German charter line’s B-737-4K5s. On September 30, a $20-million cargo terminal is opened at Prague’s Ruzyne Airport.
The company celebrates its seventy-fifth anniversary in October.
While en route from Newark (EWR) to Prague on November 16, Flight 53, an A310-304 is forced by an unspecified technical problem to divert to Gander, Newfoundland; once the problem is resolved, the Airbus is allowed to proceed across the Atlantic.
Enplanements for the year reach 1,801,800, a 3.9% increase; freight traffic climbs 6.9% to 24.7 million FTKs. Net gain climbs to $11.8 million.
By the beginning of 1999, airline employment has been cut by 1.6% to 3,912.
Czech receives its first B-737-5K5 on February 18, and it is named after south Bohemia’s Jind ich v Hradec.
In anticipation of air strikes by NATO countries against Serbian military targets in a campaign for an independent Kosovo, CSA, on March 24, halts all scheduled service into Belgrade. A spokesman, in making the announcement, indicates that the situation will be evaluated further toward evening; however, that evening, Operation Allied Force, the bombing attack on targets in Serbia and Kosovo, begins.
Service to Belgrade remains halted on March 25 and for the duration of the NATO bombing campaign. Flights to south-central and southeastern Europe experience delays of 30-60 min. due to airspace closure.
In cooperation with Air France, the number of daily roundtrips to Paris are increased to six on March 28. A new fifth daily CSA roundtrip is simultaneously started from Prague to Amsterdam, bringing the daily total to five, and in cooperation with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, N. V., the weekly total to 32.
With the start of the summer schedule, the dual-designator pact with Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G. is deepened to provide a total of 272 weekly flights (136 in each direction) between the Czech Republic and Germany.
Daily roundtrips are introduced between Prague and London (STN), which are in addition to the 14 weekly roundtrips to London (LHR). New B-737-5K5 roundtrips are introduced between Prague and Dublin, four times a week, together with two new roundtrips to Goteborg, Sweden. In addition, the first of 28 summer-only weekly return flights to Beirut is operated.
The second B-737-5K5 arrives on April 20 and is named Kladno. Three days later, the company enters into a $10-million arrangement with SABRE for the creation of a turnkey System Operations Control center for CSA, which will be ready in a year.
Ousted as chairman, President Antonia Jakubse resigns during the early summer; he is succeeded in office on July 24 by Vice President-Technology Miroslav Kula. At this point, the Czech Transport Ministry announces that the carrier’s privatization is being postponed until 2001.
It is revealed on December 20 that CSA is now the second largest exporter in the Czech Republic. A code-sharing agreement with Continental Airlines on the Prague-Bucharest route comes into effect on December 21.
Customer bookings for the first 11 months climb 14.3% to 1,919,000 while freight is up 4% to 23,234,000 FTKs.
Airline employment stands at 3,795 at the beginning of 2000, a 3% drop over the previous 12 months.
The Tu-154M Marianske Lazne operates the last CSA service by the type on January 10, a charter flight from Prague to Istanbul. While in Czech service, the Tupolevs flew over 51.3 million km.—equivalent to 1,280 flights around the world. The final Soviet-era jetliner is replaced on charters by the B-737-45S Jihlava and the Dash-45S Liberec.
On March 10, CSAtakes delivery of 2 additional B-737-45Ss, the last 2 Dash-400s manufactured by Boeing. The same day, as replacement for the failed Air Ostrava Spol, S. R.O, regularly scheduled roundtrips are inaugurated between Prague and Ostrava. Service between Prague and Belgrade is resumed on April 10.
Scheduled flights are initiated between Prague and Brno on May 22 by the recently christened B-737-45S Brno. Twice-weekly B-737-55S round-trips are launched from Prague to Aleppo, Syria, at the beginning of June; one flight continues on to Damascus before returning to the Czech Republic. Other destinations receiving increased service during the month include Amsterdam, Beirut, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dublin, and Tel Aviv.
On June 21, plans are unveiled under which the carrier would join the new “SkyTeam” alliance, headed by Air France and Delta Air Lines, the following March. Those majors will also each acquire a 15% stake in the Czech carrier by 2002.
Formal government approval to join “SkyTeam” is received on August 27. A formal invitation to join is received from the alliance on October 18.
World History
