After 101 years of operation, Czech Airlines is set to cease flying on 26 October 2024, marking the end of one of the world’s oldest airlines. This final flight will also retire the airline’s iconic ‘OK’ code.
Founded in 1923 as Československé Státní Aerolinie (or CSA), Czech Airlines has played an important role in Eastern European aviation for over a century, but the airline’s final chapter comes as little surprise to the aviation community, sad as it is.
Financial turbulence and SkyTeam exit
Czech Airlines’ financial woes began long before the pandemic. Although the airline had built a reputation for quality service and safety, internal conflicts and management missteps in the 2000s led to costly decisions that weakened its financial foundation, Czech Television reported.
Former Czech Airlines president Miroslav Kůla criticised what he called “megalomaniac projects” under leadership, which saw expensive plane purchases and extravagant expenditures that ultimately forced the airline to sell assets and reduce its fleet.
Despite these efforts, the airline’s downfall accelerated during the pandemic. Unlike other European airlines, Czech Airlines did not receive significant government support and filed for bankruptcy in 2021. “Prior to COVID-19, CSA was a profitable company,” the airline stated on its website in conjunction with the bankruptcy filing, attributing its financial collapse to pandemic-related restrictions.
The end of operations will also see the airline leave the SkyTeam alliance, where it has been a member since 2001.
SkyTeam CEO Patrick Roux praised the airline’s contributions over the past 23 years, adding, “SkyTeam and its members thank Czech Airlines for more than 20 years of partnership and wish our Czech Airlines friends and colleagues the very best for the future.”
Absorption into Smartwings
The airline’s final flight will be absorbed into its parent company, Smartwings, which purchased a majority stake in 2017. Smartwings confirmed that CSA’s routes, including its two primary ones between Prague and Paris and Madrid, will continue under Smartwings’ flight code ‘QS’, Air Data News reported.
Smartwings will manage future bookings previously made with Czech Airlines and the brand will still appear on some aircraft for a limited period. However, from October 27, the ‘OK’ flight code will disappear from all airline tickets, replaced by ‘QS’ on boarding passes.
A storied legacy
Founded in 1923, the airline is the fifth-oldest airline in the world, following KLM, Avianca, Qantas, and Aeroflot. Its history includes a significant role in post-World War II Europe, where it connected Eastern Europe to major global destinations. In its heyday, the airline flew to cities like New York, Montreal, and Havana, and in the 1960s became one of the first airlines to operate jet aircraft, specifically the Tupolev TU-104, Expats.cz reported.
It also earned a reputation for safety, having experienced no fatal accidents since the 1990s, a point of pride for the airline.
However, in recent years, the airline scaled back its operations significantly. Its fleet dwindled to just a few planes, including two Airbus A320s, primarily servicing the Prague–Paris and Prague–Madrid routes. The airline’s downsized role in Europe became increasingly apparent, and many of its aircraft were already operating under the Smartwings brand.
The final CSA flight, set to land in Prague from Paris on October 26, will mark a bittersweet end for a storied airline that once represented the Czech Republic on the global stage. As the airline closes this chapter, aviation enthusiasts around the world will remember the century-long journey of Czech Airlines and its contributions to the industry.
