Cenfidential '®~f fFIPJ'.l!H'Tf}l(L CENTRAL INTELLIGEi:~CE AGENCY Directorate of Intelligence 19 January 1968 INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM Forthcomin~ US Civil Air Negotiations with Czechoslovakia Summary Forthcoming negotiations in Washington between the United States and Czechoslovakia may produce a new civil air agreement that would replace the inoperative agreement concluded between the United States and the Benes government in 1946. A new agreement probably would provide the Czechoslovak State Airline (CSA) with a route between Prague and New York and regularize Pan American Airways (PAA) service to Prague, which has operated since July 1965 under a temporary permit from Czecho­slovakia. CSA has never operated scheduled service to the United States. CSA probably would not begin a Prague -New York service until mid-1969 and would use the new IL-62 Soviet long-range jet on the route. Such a service would not include beyond rights to Cuba. An air agreement with the United States would enhance Czechoslovakia's prestige in the civil air sphere, give some leverage to the Czechs in their effort to negotiate agreements with other Latin American countries, and provide the United States with another bridge to Eastern Europe. Note: This memorandum was produced by CIA. It was prepared by the Office of Economic Researah and was coordinated with the Offiae of Current InteZ,Z,igence. @et4't: IDEN I IXL Forthcoming US Civil Air Negotiations with Czechoslovakia 1. A Czech aviation delegation headed by Martin Murin, President of the Board of Civil Aviation of the Czechoslovak Ministry of Transport, is scheduled to arrive in Washington on 20 January 1968 for resumption of bilateral civil air negotiations with US Government and Pan American Airways (PAA) officials commencing 22 January. The meeting is expected to last from a week to ten days, after which the delegation tentatively plans to fly to Ottawa for discussions with the Canadian Ministry of Transport. 2. A civil air agreement concluded between the United States and the Benes government in June 1946 is technically still in force. PAA operated an air service between New York and Prague under this agreement, but service was suspended after the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia in 1948, and the agreement has since been inoperative. In July 1965, PAA resumed service between New York and Prague under a temporary permit (outside the provisions of the 1946 agreement) issued by the Government of Czechoslovakia. The Czechoslovak State Airline (CSA)* has never operated scheduled air service to the United States. 3. The Czechs have indicated to US officials at various times since 1965 that they would like to conclude a new air agreement with the United States. Formal negotiations began in Prague in April 1967 at which time the Czechs asked for two routes, one to New York and the other to Chicago, both via intermediate points in Europe and Canada, and with beyond rights to Mexico. The meetings were recessed after considerable dis­agreement on conditions under which PAA could conduct business in Czechoslovakia and convert and remit currency. There was also some dis­agreement on arbitration procedures and routes. The negotiations were resumed informally between CSA and PAA in June 1967, but the controversial issues were not resolved. * CSA is a state-owned aiviZ aviation enterprise e~aZusiveZy authorized to provide saheduZed and non-saheduZed air transportation. It is headed by generaZ manager who is responsibZe the cotIPI8f:f(TIAL 4. The Czechoslovak Ministry of Foreign after a hurried attempt to resume negotiations in November 1967, agreed to the January 1968 date. The new Czech initiative suggests that CSA wants to open a Prague -New York service in 1969 and may be ready to compro­ mise on the disputed points. International Operations of Czechoslovak State Airline 5. CSA, the largest Eastern European airline, serves 30 Free World countries, the USSR, all of the Eastern European Communist countries, and Cuba (see the map). CSA's international air net­work dates back to before World War II. Following the war the Benes government had ambitious plans for the expansion of air services, but after the Communist takeover in 1948 air service was curtailed. The expansion drive was resumed in the late 1950's, and routes were added to Asia, Africa, and Cuba. In 1966, CSA's volume of traffic on all international routes, including those in Eastern Europe, was 582 million passenger kilometers, more than three times the level in 1960. The development of routes into distant areas was an aspect of Czecho­slovakia's growing involvement in the less developed countries and at least initially had mainly a political purpose. Many of these routes were unprofitable. In recent years, CSA's emphasis has been on the consolidation of its existing route network to improve the efficiency of air operations. All cities added to CSA's service since 1965 --for example, Freetown, Tunis, Istanbul, Teheran, Dubai, Karachi, and Singapore have been incorporated as intermediate points or extensions to existing routes. Routes to the Free World extended over 30,000 unduplicated miles as of December 1967. 6. Czechoslovakia occupies an advantageous civil air position in Eastern Europe because of its central location and its sophistication in civil air matters. It is a longstanding member of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and has generally based its civil air policy on the international principles espoused by ICAO. -3 ­ CO! Q"f