Our European Quest
Day 5: What's in a name?
By CNN's Richard Quest
(CNN) -- Can I have a shorthand for the Czech Republc please.
In the old Soviet Union, we used (wrongly) Russia; for the United States of America we say either the U.S. or America. But every time you want to talk about this country you have to say the whole thing. Which is a bit of a mouthful.
I asked around whether it was alright just to say Czech, but it sounds odd to comment "here in Czech..." (sounds like I'm talking about my bank account.)
So, any thoughts? A good shorthand name for the Czech Republic?
Old airlines ... great service
How pleasant it was to get a hot meal. They are few and far between these days on European short-haul flights. But delighted to say very much here and present on carriers like Czech Airlines and LOT.
Both at the front and the back of the plane some decent sort of refreshment was available. And the service really was the sort of thing other airlines used to boast about.
The planes were clean, the staff friendly and the flights left on time; which these days is just about as good as you can get when flying around Europe's crowded skies.
True, prices still have some way to fall, but the low-cost airlines eagerly anticipating the new markets opening up in the enlarged EU will take care of that.
It would be a pity though, if the service improvements from the old central/eastern European carriers had to go by the board to beat the profits of the low-cost carriers.
Having flown both airlines in recent days I can see why Czech Airlines came first and LOT second in the Central/Eastern European category of the latest SKYTRAX Awards (probably the industry standard awards given by passengers.)
LOT (Star) and Czech (Skyteam) could teach their alliance partners a thing or two.
ONE Sour note: Czech Airlines has closed its business class lounge at Prague Airport during renovations. Tsk Tsk. You really can't just shut the lounge and shunt your best passengers into the terminal with a small voucher to buy a drink.
Maybe at a small airport where you fly once a day that is acceptable. But at your headquarters hub?
I am sure the new lounge will be worth the wait, but really. Better alternative arrangements should have been made for the five-week wait while you spruce up your wares. Could you imagine BA or Virgin just closing the lounges at LHR?
And lastly:
Please keep your e-mail questions and comments coming.
A selection appear on the Web site (click here) along with my answers. The e-mail address is europeanquest@cnn.com
