On Saturday, October 26, 2024, one of the oldest names in aviation ceased existing, as the CSA brand was fully eliminated by its owner Smartwings. It seems unfitting that an aviation company, that emerged as a pioneer on more than one occasion, was swallowed by one of Europe’s lesser known low-cost carriers. Although, it paints a pretty sharp picture on how the industry developed over the past three decades.
Jetliner Pioneers
Founded in October 1923 as Československé státní aerolinie (Czechoslovak State Airlines), planes flew under that name for the better part of seventy years. The company was actually disbanded during the German occupation of Czechia in 1939, but re-emerged under that same name after the conclusion of World War II. In 1957, CSA found its way into the history books of aviation: By deploying only Tupolev Tu-104 aircraft between Prague and Moscow, the company became the first airline ever to operate a route exclusively with jetliners. While other airlines used jets as well, many routes were flown by turboprops and jets alike.
Even while operating from behind the iron curtain and with a fleet of exclusively Soviet-built planes, CSA also offered non-stop services from Prague to the USA and Canada. With the downfall of communism in Eastern Europe, both CSA and the entire country of Czechoslovakia experienced drastic changes. After the partition of the former CSSR into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the airline followed suit and split up into Czech Airlines in Prague and Slov Air in Bratislava. The Prague based carrier retained the CSA abbreviation, with its full name now changing to České aerolinie – or Czech Airlines.
Privatization and SkyTeam Building Block
Following privatization in 1992, CSA began integrating more and more Western manufactured aircraft into its fleet. The company acquired Airbus A310 planes to replace the less fuel efficient Ilyushin IL-62 on its long-haul services. The airline retired the model in 2010, being one of the last to offer scheduled passenger services across the Atlantic Ocean with it. If you’re interested in a first-hand account of a CSA flight to JFK on an A310, you can check out this thread covering a flight from April 2008.
The last entirely positive note for CSA came in 2001, when it joined the SkyTeam aviation alliance as its fifth member, following Aeromexico, Air France, Delta Air Lines and Korean. It’s frequent flyer program OK Miles was regularly lauded as one of the most attractive of the alliance, especially among European travellers. However, things did not go well after hitting that last milestone.
A Fifteen-Year Demise
The airline struggled to be profitable, as more and more low-cost carriers poured into their hub in Prague. Their last fifteen years were marred by declining passengers numbers, increasing maintenance cost for an aging fleet and – probably worst of all – constant ownership changes that involved names like the Czech ministry of finance, Air France, Korean Air and finally Smartwings.
Since the Covid-pandemic, CSA was basically a husk puppeteered by Smartwings, one of the low-cost carriers that contributed to the legacy carrier’s downfall. It announced the discontinuation of the CSA brand in late July 2024. The last flight under the name was operated this past Saturday as OK 767 from Paris to Prague, landing at 22.35 and closing a chapter of aviation history.
The end comes merely three days before the 101st anniversary of the inaugural CSA flight, that took off on October 29, 1923.
Source: Wiki
Cover Picture: Photo by Ondrej Bocek on Unsplash