Czech Republic‘s Finance Minister Alena Schillerová proposed the government acquire CSA Czech Airlines, however noting complications may arise due to a minority foreign ownership in SmartWings Group.
Schillerová expects the Ministry of Industry and Trade to prepare an analysis of strategic companies affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
As previously reported by CAPA, Smartwings Group implemented austerity measures to mitigate the financial impact of the drop in demand.
In 2018, 97.74% of Czech Airlines was bought by the privately-owned Smartwings and CSA became a part of the Smartwings Group. The remaining 2.26% of CSA is owned by insurance company Česká Pojišťovna.
CSA is the fifth oldest still operating airline in the world, after Dutch KLM (1919), Colombian Avianca (1919), Australian Qantas (1920), and Soviet/Russian Aeroflot (1923). It was the first airline in the world to fly regular jet-only routes (between Prague and Moscow).
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