Budapest Airport celebrates 75th anniversary of the Prague-Budapest route with CSA Czech Airlines.

Monday 28th May 2012

The Budapest Airport management team, together with senior management from CSA Czech Airlines held a celebration event at Budapest Airport's newly installed Swing Lounge in Terminal 2B on 23 May to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the first flight between the cities of Budapest and Prague, which took place on 23 May 1937.

Testimony to the popularity of the route, CSA Czech Airlines now operates the same route sometimes up to five times daily, carrying approximately 79,000 passengers a year between the two cities.

Czechoslovak State Airlines (CSA) was established in 1923 to provide domestic air transport to Czech citizens. In 1927 the Czechoslovak Air Company (CLS) was established by Skoda Machinery Co to provide international air transport and in 1930 CSA followed suit, with the start of its first international route.

CLS first flew between Prague and Budapest on 23 May 1937 with CSA commencing operations on the same route on 01 August 1938. Later that same year the Czech Ministry of Transport proposed the merger of the two carriers, however the onset of World War II meant these plans never came to fruition with all aircraft being commandeered by the Nazi forces.

After World War II, in September 1945, CSA was reinstated by the Czechoslovak government as the only air carrier in Czechoslovakia. The airline recommenced the Prague-Budapest route in June 1947, operating it continuously ever since.

Kam Jandu, Budapest Airport's Director of Aviation said: "We are delighted to share this landmark celebration with CSA. 75 years is a phenomenal milestone and we look forward to continuing our successful relationship into the future, providing travellers from both cities with this much needed connection."

Photo caption: Cake celebration with Kam Jandu, Aviation Director, Budapest Airport and Jiri Marek, Vice President for Sales & Marketing at CSA.

• About Budapest Airport:

Budapest Airport Zrt. operates Budapest Airport. This is privately owned with German company HOCHTIEF AirPort, one of the world's biggest independent airport managers holding a 49.67% stake, together with a further four financial investors: Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Montreal holding a 18.17% stake; Malton Investment Pte Ltd. holding a 18.17% stake; Aero Investment S.á.r.l. holding a 10% stake and KfW IPEX-Bank, Frankfurt holding a 4% stake.

Budapest Airport aims to be best airport in the Central and Eastern European region and have been recognised for their development projects, customer services approach and marketing activities.

www.bud.hu

• About CSA Czech Airlines:

Czech Airlines is one of the oldest airlines in Europe having provided services to passengers since 1923. CSA has gained an enormous amount of experience and has grown into a modern airline, boasting a number of awards for the quality of its services and operating a fleet of 31 aircraft.

CSA is a member of the Sky Team Alliance, an international airline alliance offering 15,207 flights daily to 684 destinations in 33 countries.

www.czechairlines.co.uk