ZCZC
BFF-28
HEALTH-VIRUS-CZECH-AVIATION-CSA
Czech Airlines files for reorganisation over Covid woes
PRAGUE, Feb 26, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Struggling Czech national air carrier
Czech Airlines (CSA) said Friday it had filed a proposal for reorganisation
with a court in line with the insolvency law.
“Until the coronavirus crisis, CSA was a profitable company that became
insolvent because of the Covid-19 pandemic and related restrictions,” CSA
said in a statement.
The airline, a unit of the Prague-based Smartwings group, is under a
moratorium protecting it from creditors, which expires at the end of
February.
The company, which is still running flights as scheduled, has complained
that unlike its rivals, it has never received Covid aid from the Czech
government.
The airline said the planned reorganisation, which should allow the company
to address its financial woes while remaining in operation, is “the last
resort unless the Czech government changes its approach”.
The Smartwings group including CSA has so far sacked 600 staff because of
the virus.
A CSA unions official has recently told Czech media the airline may dismiss
all of its remaining staff, but Smartwings spokeswoman Vladimira Dufkova said
this was only a possibility.
CSA posted losses worth 60 million euros ($73 million) for 2020 as its
sales slumped to 20 percent of the 2019 volume because of the virus.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1843 hrs