Czech Airlines (CSA) is expanding its long-haul services by adding service to the U.S. city of Atlanta in codesharing partnership* with Delta Air Lines. CSA will be providing specific services for the flights, which are to be operated by Delta Air Lines. These will include passenger and aircraft handling services at the Prague airport and as well as representing Delta as their local cargo agent in Prague. A CSA subsidiary will also be taking care of catering for the flights from Prague to Atlanta. CSA and Delta currently cooperate on 40 other codeshared routes.

Today, May 3, 2007, Delta Air Lines, CSA’s partner in the SkyTeam Alliance, is launching regular direct service between the world’s largest hub airport in Atlanta, Georgia and Prague. For this service, Delta will be using its Boeing 767-300 (ER) aircraft, which seats 214 passengers. Delta will offer four flights per week with five flights a week during the peak summer season, running from June 4 through September 1.

“The launching of the codeshared flights with Delta Air lines between Prague and Atlanta also allows us to expand CSA’s offerings of its own long haul flights,” said Petr Pi?t?lák, CSA’s Vice President for Marketing and Product Development. The CSA-Delta codesharing partnership is mutually beneficial to both carriers and the services offered by both airlines complement one another. For CSA’s passengers, the new service to Atlanta will offer additional options for getting to the U.S. via Atlanta, the busiest airport in the world. For Delta passengers, the partnership with CSA will offer a convenient option for connecting to other,  especially, Central and Eastern European flights.

In addition to the Prague-Atlanta codeshared route, CSA and Delta are in discussions on possible codesharing relationships on other routes that connect out of Atlanta - especially with respect to domestic flights within the U.S. CSA is already offering some of such flights. These include codeshared flights from New York to Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., as well as to other U.S. cities. As for Delta, it has its flight coding on CSA flights from Prague to Ostrava, Ko?ice, Bratislava, Warsaw and even destinations such as Zagreb, Riga and Tallinn.

For passengers, codeshared flights are convenient for several reasons. One of them is the ability to book an entire itinerary, having multiple connections, through a single booking location. Another advantage for CSA’s customers is the option to earn miles for (or spend miles from) their OK Plus frequent flyer program when traveling on the codeshared flights.

In addition to codesharing the flights with Delta, CSA will also be supplying all standard handling services - for example passenger and aircraft processing - for the Prague-Atlanta flights. CSA also acts as Delta’s general sales agent for its cargo services in Prague and the airline will be handling these services on the direct flights between Prague and Atlanta. For the flights departing from Prague, CSA’s subsidiary, CSA Air Czech Catering, will also be supplying catering services. CSA’s caterers will be offering a typical American menu, which will include treats such as hamburgers and cookies.
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