Czech Airlines Announces the Relaunching of Manchester Services

According to the national carrier of the Czech Republic, Czech Airlines, flights will resume between Manchester and Prague. These flights will also be offering connections to Russia and the Ukraine. The regional manager for the UK, Ireland, Netherlands and Belgium at Czech Airlines, Roman Orlik, said that the schedule has been set up to find the most convenient connections to destinations beyond Prague.

Czech Airlines, which is a government owned carrier, served this route until the winter of 2009. It was during this time that the route was stopped due to economic reasons. However, Czech Airlines has now decided to bring it back, because Manchester is very important to small and medium enterprises. Orlik went on to say that the relaunch of the route comes at a time when the balance books are improving for the airline overall. The UK economy is back on track, so passengers are starting to fly again.

Even without the Manchester route the airline’s results are better than last year. Just last year the airline saw a huge decline in terms of passengers from UK regions to Prague. Orlik thinks that they have reached the bottom, and they can now wait on their numbers to slowly start growing again.

Right now, however, Czech Airlines is under investigation by the European Commission over a CZK 2.5 billion loan from the Czech government-owned bank Osinek. The European Commission ruled that the loan was a form of illegal state aid. On this matter, Orlik said by the end of April they should have a decision over whether the loan was appropriate or not. It is important for the airline what the decision will be, as it will have impact on the balance sheets and cash flow of the company.