Czech Airlines
Czech Airlines Airbus A320-200 in 2021 | |||||||
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| Founded | 6 October 1923 | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | 29 October 1923 | ||||||
| Ceased operations | 26 October 2024 (as an airline) | ||||||
| Hubs | Václav Havel Airport Prague | ||||||
| Alliance | SkyTeam (2001–2024) | ||||||
| Subsidiaries | Smartwings | ||||||
| Fleet size | 4 (operated by Smartwings) | ||||||
| Headquarters | Prague, Czech Republic | ||||||
| Revenue | CZK 9.5 bn (2014) | ||||||
| Operating income | CZK 285 m (2016) | ||||||
| Total assets | CZK 2.2 bn (2014) | ||||||
| Total equity | CZK (0.3) bn (2014) | ||||||
| Employees | 587 | ||||||
| Website | csa.cz | ||||||
Czech Airlines (abbreviation: ČSA, Czech: České aerolinie, a.s.) is a Czech aviation brand and privately held holding company. Between 1923 and 2024, it operated as an independent airline and served as the flag carrier of the Czech Republic. Czech Airlines ended its own flight operations on 26 October 2024, handing them over to Smartwings while being repurposed into a holding company.
ČSA was the fifth oldest airline in the world, after Dutch KLM (1919), Colombian Avianca (1919), Australian Qantas (1920), and Soviet/Russian Aeroflot (1923). It was the first airline in the world to fly regular jet-only routes (between Prague and Moscow). The airline ran a frequent flyer programme called "OK Plus" about the airline's International Air Transport Association designation, as well as the term of approval; OK also featured prominently in its previous livery, and was the prefix of Czech aircraft registrations. It was a member of the SkyTeam alliance. Its hub was Václav Havel Airport Prague.
When, in 2018, 97.74% of Czech Airlines was bought by the privately owned Smartwings, ČSA became a part of the Smartwings Group. The remaining 2.26% of ČSA was owned by insurance company Česká Pojišťovna. ČSA filed for bankruptcy in March 2021 and went through an extensive business restructuring, exiting in June 2022. As of 2022, ČSA was under a new ownership structure with a new parent company called Prague City Air s.r.o. owning 70% of the company, with Smartwings retaining the remaining 30%.
On 26 October 2024, Czech Airlines became the parent (holding) company of Smartwings. As part of this transition, Smartwings took over the operational management of flights previously operated by Czech Airlines. The last scheduled flight of Czech Airlines was flight OK767 from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to Václav Havel Airport Prague, operated by an Airbus A320-214 registered OK-IOO. Following the flight's departure, "Featured flight alert" notifications were sent out to users of the ADS-B flight tracker Flightradar24 application for flight OK767, the last flight of Czech Airlines.