CCA suspends all flights
Both Zagreb and Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport no longer have direct air links to Prague after Central Connect Airlines (CCA) suspended all operations on Tuesday. The Czech national carrier, ČSA, relegated its Zagreb and Ljubljana services to CCA earlier in the year due to poor loads, as well as its own financial headaches. It followed ČSA’s pullout from Belgrade in 2011 and Skopje at the start of the 2012 summer season. As a result, there are no more direct flights between Prague and any EX-YU capital city.In a statement the airline said, “Given that the statistics did not confirm the long term ticket sales, profitability was not achieved. Therefore, the management has decided to temporarily suspend operations on all existing scheduled CCA flights in order to optimise the restructuring plan“. Central Connect Airlines operated flights to Zagreb and Ljubljana with the 36 seat Saab 340B aircraft.
However, there is still hope that the services from Prague will resume in the coming future. ČSA is set to take over some of CCA’s destinations, though Zagreb and Ljubljana are momentarily unavailable for booking. CCA has said that passengers booked on flights that will not be relaunched by ČSA will be compensated. Zagreb was ČSA’s first international destination, launched back in 1930. The airport has already lost two customers due to bankruptcy this year - Malév and Spanair. However, Qatar Airways has replaced Malév’s flights from Budapest while Vuleing will be operating services to Barcelona this summer.
I had no idea this plane was flying to Zagreb, since I remembered when CSA canceled Belgrade and Skopje, some ppl have gloated like "Hmm its increasing freq in Zagreb", yeah but with this toy plane LoL, as i recall Belgrade was usually 737, or Atr72
ReplyDelete- There is no ATR72 in CSA fleet.
ReplyDelete- Better twice per day Saab 340 than not at all.
- CSA has difficulties replacing the CCA services (also from Prague to Berlin, Hannover, Krakow etc.) because of its fleet shortage. On 9 Jun 2012 an OK ATR42 plane was destroyed in a fire at Prague. The airplane was parked inside Czech Airlines Technics' hangar for maintenance when fire occurred. The airplane burned out completely. Another airplane in the hangar, also ATR42 sustained damage.
i have no idea if OK has ATR72 in their fleet at the moment, but it surely had.they often used it to LJU, and sometimes 737 too.but i agree, better 2 daily flights with a smaller plane than no service at all.i hope they will reintroduce their flights to LJU as they were offering good connections to eastern Europe and specially to the Baltic states, and the tickets were usually avaliable at very decent prices.
Deleteto the 1st anonymous - Just for your infromation, CSA frequently used their 737s last summer (2011) at LDZA. So, it's not as if the "toy" was used all the time - just towards the end of the service period in 2012...
ReplyDeleteBut they also used their ATR42 at summer with a very poor lood factor.
DeleteCSA transfer passengers has newer been worse.
Offtopic:
ReplyDeleteCharterflights of JAL to DBV: In July one with a nightstop:
JL8821/14JUL B772
ZRHDBV 1730/1900
JL8828/15JUL
DBVHND 0800/1945
HNDNRT 2055/2135
timings in zulu time
DeleteI have interesting information about the new flight
ReplyDeletefrom Kuwait to Sarajevo.
The aircraft is a B767-200 in the colours of Jet Asia.
Neither Gryphon Airlines nor Jet Asia
actually own this aircraft...
In fact that plane is owned and operated
by Swift Air!
And it seems that this B767-200 is the same
aircraft those passengers were denied entering
to fly Chicago/Rockford-Zagreb-Belgrade
last year!
HS-JAB is actually owned by JetAsia according to Airfleets. It is also registered in Thailand.
ReplyDeleteIt would seem logical to me that a US based company (Swift Air) would operate aircraft with N-... registration.
Swift Air's 767's have been stored lately I believe,
Hmmm...on the SJJ airport photo you see
ReplyDeletewritten Jet Asia!
Actually their name is Jet Asia Airways!
According to Wikipedia Jet Asia(without ending Airways) is a company from Macau(PRoC)with relations to North American business!
But its Jet Asia Airways from Thailand...
Gryphon Airlines MD-82 are operated by Swift Air..
indeed very complicated!
Have there ever been done marketing for these flights?
We hear of them so late...after their first flight.
These flights are pricy: $500 each way according to the Gryphon website.
Delete