04.09.2002 - Just returned from my holidays in Scotland with Ciaoer Mike (Aspen). A handful of trave...
04.09.2002 - Just returned from my holidays in Scotland with Ciaoer Mike (Aspen). A handful of travel ops are in preparation. See ya soon.
Member since:17.02.2001
Reviews:61
Members who trust:143
CSA CzechAirlines offer a cheap and high quality alternative for flights to Eastern Europe, both for business and holidays.
Czech Airlines clearly set a mark by offering the cheapest Business tickets to anywhere in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Business tickets from the UK to destinations like Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and the likes come at around 400 to 500 Pounds (return). Western airlines like BA, Lufthansa, Swissair etc. - and even the Polish LOT - charge 700 and 1000 Pounds for the same routes.
If you expect a no frills product at this price, you will be surprised at the high quality of Czech Airlines' servicee, particularly in Business Class. As one of very few carriers in Europe, Czech Airlines offer wide Business seats in a two abreast configuration on each side. Even "quality leaders" like Swissair can't beat this: there you get a 2 to 3 configuration with a middle seat. On a two hours flight from Heathrow to Prague, you will soon come to appreciate the additional space on CSA.
The food is quite good, with hot meals served both in Business and Economy, on the tastier side of airline catering. The service is always friendly and attentive, as you should expect from every airline but don't find to often anymore.
Like most Eastern European airlines, CSA Czech Airlines have rigorously modernised their fleet which is now comprised of Boeing 737s on European flights and ATR turboprops for shorthaul commuting. As far as this can be assessed from the passenger's viewpoint, all aircraft make a modern and well-serviced impression. Technical checks are mostly carried out by Lufthansa, which indicates the high level of flight safety at CSA.
No airline without flaws, though. Czech Airlines' main problem is the small number of flight connections. Although CSA fly to almost every city in Eastern Europe, most destinations are only served once or twice per day, often with missing connections to and from Western Europe. Thus a flexible Business Class ticket can be pretty useless, if there is no alternative connection that you can change your booking to. And because of the dumping prices on CSA flights, most other airlines won't except an endorsed ticket from Czech Airlines. The timetable deserves a major revamping to allow for better east-west connections.
Many routes between Prague and Western Europe are operated in codeshare with Lufthansa, so you can collect miles with the frequent flyer programmes of any of the Star Alliance airlines (British Midland, Lufthansa, Austrian, United, etc.). However, the miles transfer has never automatically worked for me, I have always had to hand them in manually. Czech Airlines have just signed up with the SkyTeam Alliance (Delta, Air France, Korean) so you can now collect points on Skymiles and FrequencePlus when flying Czech Airlines, and the partnership with Lufthansa may soon come to an end.
A marginal problem are the small Business Class lounges at Prague airport. They are always overcrowded and bear no smoking area, not to mention a business center. Hopefully a new lounge concept will be implemented with the entry of CSA into Skyteam.
All together, Czech Airlines are my favourite carrier in Eastern Europe and one of the few whom I trust. All of this at an unbeatable price. It is beyond my understanding why LOT Polish airlines collects the "Best Airline in Eastern Europe" year after year. Due to my business activities in Eastern Europe I fly both CSA and LOT very frequently and find CSA beats LOT on every account. A little bit of additional work on the schedule, lounges and mileage rewards, and this will be one of the best carriers in Europe, east and west.
Airlines reviewed by myself so far:
Austrian Airlines British European Airways (formerly Jersey European Airways) British Mediterranean Airways Czech Airlines Deutsche BA Lauda Air Copyright 2001 by Hansjörg Gebel, Witten, Germany
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Thank you for this. I am considering going to Azerbaijan in September and the cheapest tickets, by a mile, are with Czech Airlines changing in Prague. Your review and the others on here will help me decide.
Paiceyjohn 27.06.2001 13:48
Flying to Prague in a couple of weeks on CSA, so I'm glad the Flight-meister has given them the thumbs up! Cheers, John
Plissken 20.02.2001 10:44
Comprehensive review...we used CSA flying from Frankfurt to Prague, and although it was OK, we felt it was a little bit threadbare after Lufthansa. Thanks for pointing out my bungle on the leather seats, by the way...after a lifetime used to British corner-cutting, you assume everywhere else is the same! Plissken
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