Czech Airlines withdraws from UK

CSA Czech Airlines has announced it will withdraw from the UK market at the end of Oct-2010, after 72 years of service (Business Traveller, 31-Aug-2010). Czech's national carrier is dropping loss-making routes in an attempt to improve profitability. CSA will also drop Brno, Munich and Cologne/Bonn services, and reduce frequency on services to Ostrava, Bratislava, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Zurich, Bologna, Vilnius, Oslo and Copenhagen (UK-Airport-News, 31-Aug-2010). Service to Marseille, Thessaloniki and Venice will be reduced to seasonal service, to be operated only during summer. Service on the airline's Belgrade, Brussels, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Athens, Beirut and St Petersburg will increase.

CSA Czech Airlines: "Our flight schedule for the winter season reflects the next stage on the path to creating a more flexible, efficient airline. Unlike previous approaches to restructuring, which were based primarily on cost cuts, the main point of the strategy now is a new network concept where the least profitable flights are cut." Philippe Moreels, VP Sales, Marketing and Finance. Source: Business Traveller, 31-Aug-2010.