At a glittering awards ceremony at the Park Lane Hotel, London, President of CSA Czech Airlines, Mr Jaroslav Tvrdik, was presented with the OAG Outstanding Service Award 2005 for helping the children of the Beslan terrorist attack. The OAG Outstanding Service Award, a special category in the OAG Airline of the Year Awards, is presented to an individual at an airline or airport who is nominated by colleagues for acting above and beyond the call of duty. The Beslan tragedy of September 2004 has been described as the worst terror-related human catastrophe in the history of Russia. There were at least 335 victims, mostly children, who died and over 700 victims who were hospitalised. Although the Russian Red Cross initially flew a party of the children to the spa area of Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic, plans for a second trip ran into difficulties due to lack of funds for transportation. This news made national headlines in the Czech media. CSA Czech Airlines President, Mr Jaroslav Tvidik, on reading of the children’s plight, without hesitation offered to fly 72 children and their carers from Beslan to Prague. The problem did not end there: Beslan Airport was unable to handle the CSA aircraft. Consulting with the CSA management team an alternative, albeit a costly one, was found. CSA paid for a Russian aircraft to carry the children from Beslan to Baku on the Black Sea coast which is on CSA’s scheduled network and the airline blocked off a complete flight for the transfers between Baku and Prague. Commenting on the actions of Mr Tvrdik, the Czech Republic’s Minister for Health, Mrs Emmerova, commented: ‘Mr Tvrdik read in the local (Czech) media that the project was threatened by a shortage of money on the Russian side and he immediately called me and offered help. Mr Tvrdik did not need any prompting or request for assistance and personally led the team who were charged with implementing the programme’.
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