National air carrier Czech Airlines (?SA) as of July 1 is expanding code-share cooperation with its counterpart Aeroflot of Russia.
While ?SA?s network of destinations now also includes Russian cities of Barnaul, Irkutsk, Kemerovo and Omsk, Aeroflot?s passengers have the opportunity to fly through Prague to Cork and Dublin in Ireland, and Manchester and Edinburgh in the U.K. Among other things, ?SA?s new strategy is based on focusing on eastern destinations.
??SA [now] offers four new connections to Russia and continues in its expansion to eastern markets,? said Madla Macounová, the airline?s executive vice president for marketing and product development. ?With the new lines, we would like to accommodate particularly business travelers heading to Russia ? as well as Russian clients who are using our connecting flights via Prague to Western Europe,? she said.
?SA and Aeroflot already code-share flights between Prague and Moscow and between Moscow and Karlovy Vary, West Bohemia. The route between the Czech and Russian capitals operates four times a week while the Moscow?Karlovy Vary route runs five times a week. Three months ago Aeroflot re-launched its charter service from Karlovy Vary to Moscow. Last year, some 185,000 Russian tourists visited the Czech Republic, 13 percent more than in 2004.
The Russian air carrier joined the SkyTeam alliance this April. ?SA has been member of the alliance led by Air France and Delta Airlines of the U.S. since 2001. Aeroflot announced last month that its 2005 profit grew by more than 10 percent to nearly $190 million (? 150 million), according to international accounting standards. In contrast, ?SA dipped into a loss of K? 496 million in 2005 and expects further losses in the next two years.