Other European Frequent Flyer Programs - So, official, CSA will not be sold....

http://praguemonitor.com/2009/10/27/govt-decides-not-privatise-czech-airlines

To save folks a click:

From Czech Radio's English service:
http://www.radio.cz/en/news/121589

Czech Airlines remain in state hands

The Czech government has decided not to sell its majority stake in the national carrier, Czech Airlines. It based its decision on Monday on a recommendation by the Finance Minister Eduard Janota. The decision means that a 92 percent share in the troubled carrier will remain in state hands. The Czech-Icelandic consortium of Unimex/Travel Service was the only remaining bidder in the tender, after Air France-KLM dropped out. Czech Airlines has posted record losses this year, leading to a new CEO, Miroslav Dvořák, being named last week. He has negotiated wage cuts with the unions.

I am not surprised a bit. Messr. Tvrdik and Lasak drove that once great airline to the ground.

I feel sorry for those who have built status and huge mileage accounts flying OK. :td:

As long as they keep the planes in the air and benefits for Elites, go CSA! Will continue to use them, as they provide better service compared to AF/KLM.

As long as they keep the planes in the air and benefits for Elites, go CSA! Will continue to use them, as they provide better service compared to AF/KLM.

Well, planes in the air to N. America are gone, so no more nice upgrades to Business for those flights and it seems no awards at all to JFK yet via DL.

So , intra Europe, all that is left really, OK, but they have ruined a great service and plan to N. America already.

Only two or three years ago they had two daily flights to NYC (JFK and EWR) during the summer. Perhaps they'll buy those new long haul planes after all and change their mind to the summer time table..

If they will not sell it they need to move in one of the 2 directions:
- restrict flights to intra-European and join the longer list of small carriers (Malev, Tarom, etc)
- re-open flights to US and potentially Asia, to make the airlien compete more with carriers like Finnair, Austrian, etc.

I would like to see CSA open some routes to Asia, as currently Skyteam is very weak on that side, and flying from Prague to HKG/BKK/KUL is more logical than Paris or Amsterdam.

Great stuff! :D
Personally, I am not bothered about N. America, there is too much competition on those routes....but some more Asian flights would be great.

flying from Prague to HKG/BKK/KUL is more logical than Paris or Amsterdam.

Is there any meaningful O&D traffic between PRG and HKG/BKK/KUL at all?

I am not surprised a bit. Messr. Tvrdik and Lasak drove that once great airline to the ground.

I feel sorry for those who have built status and huge mileage accounts flying OK. :td:





I have 105000 miles and struggling ( no more MAN flights ). All I want is 120000 and then I'm out.
To purchase the extra 15000 miles would cost 9900 Kc= £350 - madness.

I have 105000 miles and struggling ( no more MAN flights ). All I want is 120000 and then I'm out.
To purchase the extra 15000 miles would cost 9900 Kc= £350 - madness.

They're meant to be returning to MAN when the summer schedules start up again, but their booking engine only seems to reflect the current services; even when the flight you want is shown in the PDF schedule download.

Really annoying as I was looking to make an award booking for a weekend in Prague; as a birthday treat, in May.

If they will not sell it they need to move in one of the 2 directions:
- restrict flights to intra-European and join the longer list of small carriers (Malev, Tarom, etc)
- re-open flights to US and potentially Asia, to make the airlien compete more with carriers like Finnair, Austrian, etc.

I would like to see CSA open some routes to Asia, as currently Skyteam is very weak on that side, and flying from Prague to HKG/BKK/KUL is more logical than Paris or Amsterdam.

They used to fly to BKK and that route was cut looooong before the NA routes, back in the day when things were still good. So I really cannot see them bringing it back now it if didn't make sense even then.

As far as other long-haul routes go, the economies of scale of operating one or two planes of the same type are pretty unforgivable.

And even if that weren't true, the company is staying in government hands for now, so I wouldn't hold my breath for much new investment into the company.

I have 105000 miles and struggling ( no more MAN flights ). All I want is 120000 and then I'm out.
To purchase the extra 15000 miles would cost 9900 Kc= £350 - madness.

what happens if you'll have 120k?

I am not surprised a bit. Messr. Tvrdik and Lasak drove that once great airline to the ground.

I feel sorry for those who have built status and huge mileage accounts flying OK. :td:

well, I did
I just hope it will not went to .... before I got my primary goal in CSA (2x business class round the world), but I spent like 100k on my wife alone this year, but building up above 230k now