Bluegrass Airlines, November 2009

CSA Ceskoslovenske Statni Aerolinie Domestic Routes– ‘66

By Allan Lowson

(image copyright Czech Tourism www.czechtourism.com)

It is December, and the Czech Republic has 124 churches consecrated to Saint Nicholas. Among the most famous and significant is the St. Nicholas cathedral shown above. This is in the Mala Strana area of Prague, and is one of the most famous of all Czech baroque buildings.

So what better excuse to take a peek behind the former Iron Curtain and fly a couple of Eastern Block airliners as used by CSA, the Czechoslovakian State Airline, from the ‘40s to the ‘60s. Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in January 1993.

CSA Ceskoslovenske Statni Aerolinie

Ceskoslovenske Statni Aerolinie (CSA) was founded in 1923 and a first experimental flight was made along the Prague-Bratislava-Kosice-Uzhorod route, with regular traffic following the next year. The bulk of this route was still being followed at the time of these flights in 1966. CSA developed routes through the ‘30s mainly in Eastern Europe. During the Second World War CSA was absorbed into Lufthansa. After the war CSA acquired a fleet of DC-3s for international services and Ju 52/3ms for the domestic services. Services restarted in 1946 and by the end of 1947 most European capitals were in the timetable. Russian IL-12s were bought and plans laid for an Atlantic service with DC-4s. In 1948 the communist coup took place and the airline policy was radically altered. The fleet was sourced from Russian manufacturers throughout the next 40 years, and the majority of routes were restricted to Eastern Bloc nations. The Czech aircraft industry made the Ilyushin IL-14 under licence as the Avia 14, a model of which we can use on these flights.

CSA Domestic Routes

These domestic routes were taken from the 1966 timetable of Bjorn Larsson on www.timetableimages.com. At that time the routes were mainly flown using the IL-14. Prior to this date the IL-12, and the DC-3 before that, had served the domestic services in Czechoslovakia in the post war period.

Prague – Brno – Sliac – Tatry Route (363 – 360/[042])

Heading	Distance	Down	City Name	ICAO	Up	Heading	Distance
119	0	0610	Prague	LKPR	1900 [1700]	-	109.4 nm
105	109.4 nm	0705	Brno	LKTB	- [1605]	300	101.0 nm
056	101.0 nm	0820	Sliac	LZSL	1725	286	51.5 nm
	51.5 nm	0915	Tatry	LZTT	1630	237	0

Prague – Bratislava – Kosice Route (313 – 314)

Heading	Distance	Down	City Name	ICAO	Up	Heading	Distance
133	0	1230	Prague	LKPR	1815		162.8
076	162.8	1335ar	Bratislava	LZIB	1700	314	162.8
	162.8	1505ar	Kosice	LZKZ	1525	258	0

Prague – Karlovy Vary Route (099 – 100)

Heading	Distance	Down	City Name	ICAO	Up	Heading	Distance
276	0	1235	Prague	LKPR	1410		52.4
	52.4	1310	Karlovy Vary	LKVV	1335	096	0

Prague – Prerov – Ostrava Route (071 – 382)

Heading	Distance	Down	City Name	ICAO	Up	Heading	Distance
106	0	1210	Prague	LKPR	0735		127.4
057	127.4	1310	Prerov	LKPO	0630	287	31.0
	31.0	1350	Ostrava (Mosnov)	LKMT	0550	238	0

Prague – Piestany Route (347 – 350)

Heading	Distance	Down	City Name	ICAO	Up	Heading	Distance
120	0	1440	Prague	LKPR	0815		164.3
	164.3	1545	Piestany	LZPP	0700	302	0

Prague – Gottwaldov (Zlin) Route (111 – 112)

Heading	Distance	Down	City Name	ICAO	Up	Heading	Distance
108	0	1400	Prague	LKPR	1625		136.2
	136.2	1500	Gottwaldov (Zlin)	LKHO	1520	289	0

Flight Simulator Files

The two CSA Ilyushin airliners, the Il-12 and the IL-14, have been made for FS2004 and FSX by Jens Kristensen. Both of these files are available from www.flightsim.com in IL12_10.zip and IL14_10.zip for FS2004 and IL12_10x.zip and IL14_10z.zip for FSX.