It is the end of the road for one of the world’s oldest airlines. Czech Airlines has announced its final service will be on October 26 before it is absorbed by another Czech airline, Smartwings. Formed in 1923 as Czechoslovak State Airlines, it is the fifth-oldest airline in the world behind KLM (1919), Colombia’s Avianca (1919), Qantas (1920), and Soviet/Russian Aeroflot (1923). At one stage it was one of the biggest airlines in Eastern Europe. But mismanagement and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic saw services drastically reduced. It currently operates just two routes from Prague’s Václav Havel Airport - Paris and Madrid, using its two A320s. They will be rebranded into Smartwings’ livery and the iconic flight code of ‘OK’ will be replaced with ‘QS’ . Smartwings currently operates an all- Boeing 737 fleet.<br/>
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Garuda Indonesia fell deeper in the red for its half-year earnings, as an increase in costs outpaced a rise in revenues. For the six months ended 30 June, the Jakarta-based airline group posted a pre-tax loss of $113m, compared to the $109m loss it made in the year-ago period. This was despite an 18% increase in operating revenue to over $1.6b, led mainly by growth in airline passenger revenue. During the half-year period, Garuda saw its domestic passenger volume grow by 42% to over 4.1m, while international traffic rose 56% to 1.1m. However, Garuda noted that passenger yields shrank compared to the previous year, with domestic yields seeing the sharpest decline at 12%. Moreover, the airline group, which also comprises low-cost unit Citilink, recorded a 23% jump in operating expenses, led by a sharp increase in maintenance-related costs (up 61%) and flight operation costs (up 15%). Garuda posted a net loss of $101.6m, compared to the $76m loss in the year-ago period. As at the end of June, mainline operator Garuda had 59 aircraft in its fleet, five more compared to the same period last year, while Citilink saw a reduction of three jets to 42 aircraft. <br/>