The Airbus A320 aircraft is scheduled to depart at 17:35 and return to the Czech capital at 21:55, marking the end of an era for the historic airline.
Founded in October 1923 by the Czechoslovak government, CSA quickly became a symbol of national pride. The airline's inaugural flight, a domestic journey from Prague to Bratislava, carried only one passenger—a journalist named Václav König.
The company steadily expanded to international routes, adding services to Zagreb, Rijeka, and Dubrovnik in 1930.
At its peak, Czech Airlines transported over 5.5 million passengers annually, but financial struggles, intensified competition from budget airlines, and internal management issues saw this number decline in recent years.
In recent months, CSA operated just two routes—to Paris and Madrid—from its hub at Prague's Vaclav Havel Airport, using a fleet of two Airbus A320-200 aircraft.
The airline’s operational independence will cease as it merges with Smartwings, a Czech low-cost carrier that has taken over CSA. From Sunday, all flights will operate under the Smartwings code.
As the world's fifth oldest airline, after KLM, Avianca, Qantas, and Aeroflot, CSA’s final flight marks the conclusion of a storied legacy that spanned wars, political shifts, and industry transformations.
