Press Release
Czech Airlines Set to Fly the Czech Hockey Team to the Moscow
World Championship
Prague, April 24, 2007
On April 26th, a special Czech Airlines (CSA) flight will be carrying the Czech National
Hockey Team to the 2007 World Championship competition in Moscow, which is to
start on Friday, April 27th. The hockey players are highly demanding travelers with
special requirements that range from their onboard meals to their oversized luggage.
The hockey players are very special customers and CSA tries to accommodate them as best
they can in all respects and to offer them the highest quality services," said Zdeněk Prejzek,
the head of CSA's charter division. The athletes have special requirements – for example,
their luggage often includes very valuable sports equipment. The hockey team normally
flies to a game with up to 3 tons of cargo. The players also have special inflight service
requirements, which include the catering. During a flight to a game, CSA serves lighter
meals; while, during the flight back, the team usually looks forward to traditional Czech
meals.
CSA has been working with the Czech hockey team for many years through the Asiana
Travel Agency. The national team's last flight onboard a CSA plane was last week's trip to
Helsinki, where the team played in a Euro Hockey Tour series game. A CSA plane also
brought home the gold medals from the 2005 Hockey World Championship in Vienna and the
silver medals from the World Championship in Riga last spring. "We are confident that we will
be flying home gold medals from Moscow in May on board one of our planes," said Zdeněk
Prejzek.
Besides the national A-team, CSA also often carries junior hockey teams on its regular
flights. For example, last year in December, the Czech team of junior players up to the age of
20 was flown on a regular CSA flight to the world championship in Stockholm. In February,
CSA flew junior hockey players in the under 16 age category. In April, the airline carried the
Czech hockey team with players in the under 18 age category to the world championship in
Helsinki. January saw Czech Airlines carrying the Czech team of veteran hockey players to a
tournament in Minsk. Besides the Czech national hockey teams, the Sparta Praha hockey
team is also a client of CSA's. In January, the Sparta Praha team took one of CSA's regular
flights to the European Champions Cup in St Petersburg.
Daniela Hupáková
CSA Spokesperson
*****
Czech Airlines (CSA) – the largest national carrier of the new EU member countries according to the number of
passengers carried. In 2006, the airline carried a record 5.5 million passengers. Since 2001, it has been a
member of SkyTeam, one of the leading global airline alliances.
CSA currently offers connections to 104
destinations in 44 countries worldwide. The fleet contains 50 aircraft – ATR 42’s/72’s, Boeing 737’s and Airbus
A310/A320/A321’s.
In 2006, CSA ranked second in on-time flight performance among the 26 member airlines of the Association of
European Airlines (AEA).
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Press Release
For the last four years, CSA has been selected as the “Best Airline Based in Central/Eastern Europe - 2004,
2005, 2006 and 2007”. This title is awarded annually by the Official Airline Guide (OAG) and is based on the
votes of frequent business travellers.
In January 2006, Czech Airlines also won the “Best Airline in Eastern Europe” Award (the Annual GT Tested
Awards) for a second year running. CSA was also on the shortlist of the eight best world airlines in 2005.
CONTACT: [email protected]; Czech Airlines, Ruzyně Airport, PRAGUE 6, tel.: 220 11 2660,
www.czechairlines.com
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