About CSA Czech Airlines
CSA Czech Airlines (in Czech: Ceské aerolinie (abbreviation: CSA)) is the Czech national airline company, and former carrier of Czechoslovakia based at Ruzyne International Airport, Prague. The airline connects to most major European destinations and to transit points in North America, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa and carries in excess of 2 million passengers each year. The airline runs a frequent flyer programme called the "OK Plus Frequent Flyer Programme". It is a member of the SkyTeam alliance.
    History
CSA was founded on October 6, 1923 by the Czechoslovak government as CSA Ceskoslovenské státní aerolinie. Twenty-three days later its first transport flight took place, flying between Prague and Bratislava. It operated only domestic services until its first international flight from Prague to Bratislava and Zagreb in 1930.
In January 1948 the Communist Party seized power in Czechoslovakia, suspended some western European and Middle East routes, and replaced much of the fleet with Soviet-built aircraft. In 1957 CSA became one of the world's first airlines to fly jet services, taking delivery of the first Tupolev TU-104A. The first transatlantic services started on 3 February 1962 with a flight to Havana, using a Bristol Britannia jet-prop ceded by Cubana de Aviación. CSA's transatlantic flights were code-shared with Cubana's own services to Prague, and Cubana's crews provided initial training and assistance in the operation of the Britannias.
The Britannia was replaced with Ilyushin IL-62 aircraft in the late 1960s, and new transatlantic routes were established to Montreal and New York, besides Havana. Tupolev TU-134, Ilyushin IL-18 and other Soviet-built aircraft were used in CSA's European services. In the 1990s, all Soviet-built aircraft were replaced with Western-built ones, such as the Boeing 737s and A310s, Airbus A-320s, and short-range ATR aircraft. CSA became a full member of the Sky Team alliance since its inception. Among CSA's alliance partners are Air France, KLM, Korean Air, Alitalia, and Delta Air Lines.
After the breakup of the Czechoslovak Federation the airline adopted its present name in May 1995.The airline is owned by the Czech National Property Fund (56.43%), Czech Consolidation Bank (34.49%) and other Czech institutions. It has 4,411 employees (as of January 2005).