F E A T U R E CZECHSNAPSHOT NEWSBRIEFS


QATAR AIRWAYS is considering buying a minority stake in Czech Airlines, the Middle East carrier’s chief executive officer, Akbar Al Baker, said on 9 January. The Czech government recently revealed it is considering a sale of its struggling flag carrier. Qatar is not the only airline interested in a stake; expressions of interest have also been received from Korean Air.


VOLGA-DNEPR has launched its A-check aircraft maintenance services for the A320 at Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport, with Czech Airlines as the launch customer. The carrier was the first to award VDT, the maintenance arm of Volga-Dnepr Group, an A320 maintenance contract. A-check enables aircraft checks to be completed during the winter parking period. According to station manager for Czech Airlines at Sheremetyevo, the work was completed efficiently and successfully by VDT’s specialists.


Czech set to reap the rewards C


Prague Airport looks ahead


zech Airlines has spent the last 12 months restructuring its operation, so while 2012 offered little semblance of growth, the carrier’s outlook for 2013 is somewhat more positive. “At Czech Airlines Cargo, we expect vol- umes to grow in connection with the new destinations Czech Airlines has added to its network. These include Ufa and Nizhny Novgorod in the Russian Federation, and Geneva in Switzerland, all of which will be served by Czech Airlines Cargo,” said Jiri Marek, vice president sales and market- ing for Czech Airlines.


The carrier intends to continue the development of its service, with plans to open at least four new routes this year; Seoul; Munich, Germany; Nice, France; and Zurich. While there is no concrete


plan in place for cargo services on these routes, they will certainly offer new prospects. New services to Skopje, Sofia, Belgrade and Chisinau, from Prague, were opened in 2012 for all commodities and oversized cargo. Flights are operated by ATR72-200s, which have a large cargo door and capacity for up to 7,500kgs (165,346lbs). According to Marek, demand for


MAREK


We expect to see volumes grow in 2013


these routes came directly from the clients and with them proving popular the carrier is looking to add fur- ther new freighter services from Prague. “Reshaping the fleet has been a core


priority, there are plans this year to add a further two ATR72 aircraft to the fleet. We are also expecting delivery in May of


a widebody A330, further improving the cargo capabilities,” added Marek. The A330 will be used on Czech Air- lines’ new service to Seoul and Marek also expects the carrier to deploy the plane to certain Russian destinations.


AFTER a disappointing year for cargo — volumes plunged 15.5 percent, year-on-year, to 53,000 tonnes in 2012 — Prague Vaclav Havel Airport is going on the offensive, according to an airport spokesman. Instead of passively watching other airports capture Europe- an market share, the airport is “offering attractive incentives to new cargo services on underserved routes,” he said.


Prague Airport’s other plan of attack is to create opportunities for freight forwarders on new passen- ger services, as well as improve bellyhold volumes on existing routes. The spokesman is particularly excited about the airfreight implications for Scandinavian Air- lines’ new routes to Copenhagen and Helsinki, which will launch from Prague this summer.


Such routes signal good news for an airport that was the victim of deep capacity cuts in 2012. The spokesman attributed this phenomenon to sluggish airfreight demand, coupled with the global recession. Fortunately, he envisions brighter skies for Prague Airport in 2013. “Signs of recovery in global airfreight traffic were already seen in recent months,” he com- mented, “and we believe to see shortly its positive impact on the local market.” Admittedly, freight flights account for a small percentage of the airport’s overall traffic, but the spokesman touted Prague Airport’s ability to han- dle an influx of freighters, should it come. He said: “Thanks to its geographical position in the centre of Europe, convenient facilities and sufficient capacity, we believe that Prague Airport is able to attract new freight business in the near future, and cargo opera- tions will thus become more important.”


ACW 21 JANUARY 2013


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