Czech Airlines post more than billion crown loss in 1Q

Czech Airlines, slated for privatisation later this year, has announced a heavy first-quarter loss caused by a record decline in the number of passengers. The company posted 1.3 billion crowns (roughly 49.5 million euros) in pre-tax losses, as passenger numbers shrank by an annual 12 percent to 945,000 amidst the global economic crisis. The company’s president Radomír Lašák said on Thursday that the carrier had revised its financial plan for 2009 as well as next year. The Czech government is hoping to sell its 91.5-percent stake in ČSA by the end of September, and has short-listed Air France-KLM and a Czech grouping of Unimex Group and Travel Service as potential buyers.