Memorial flight CFRNA/CIDNA 2019

CIDNA 2019       The objective of the Memorial flight was to revive the history of the very progressive airline which introduced air transportation to many countries of Central and Eastern Europe and connected these with France.

The departure of the first part of the Memorial flight was scheduled for September 7th and the route was planned as follows – Prague/Vienna/Budapest/Szeged/Arad/Bucharest. However, the weather changed everything. Saturday September 7 proved to be one of the bad days for flying VFR – low clouds, rain, fog....

One look at SkyDemon application made it clear that the weather in the rest of Czech Republic, all of Austria and western part of Hungary was no better than it was in Prague. The red points marking airports with weather below VFR minima were almost everywhere. So, at 10 o´clock the decision was made – the Memorial flight would be postponed.

The postponement, however, required changes to the whole programme. Press conferences were organised at Arad and Bucharest/Baneasa airports so we had to stick to the agreed timing of arrival at these airports. As a result, Vienna and Budapest had to be cancelled on this trip.

The weather on Sunday was much more promising so all the 5 aircraft left various airports in Czech Republic and we all met at Szeged after flying through some not so good weather in central Hungary. However, all went fine, the sun came out from the clouds and on Sunday afternoon we were welcomed at Arad airport by the Director General of Arad airport Mr Oliviu Mosneag, his assistant Mrs Dana Popescu and several journalists and regional TV crew. A press conference and a presentation followed. Then we were taken on a sight-seeing trip around the very historic city of Arad.

Next day we flew to Bucharest Baneasa airport. After our on-time landing at 1 p.m., the celebrations started there as well – water salute provided by the airport fire brigade, pretty girls dressed in the 1920´s fashion, snacks, drinks, speeches, presentations, photos, videos etc. To sum it up – Great welcome!

We were very happy that the spirit of international co-operation as it was introduced by CFRNA/CIDNA almost 100 years ago was revived during the Memorial flight. Therefore, we express many thanks also to our new friends and CFRNA/CIDNA supporters in Bucharest – Mr Valentin Iordache, Mr Dan Hadirca, Ms Sorina Tanasoiu, Mr Dorin Ivascu, Mr Alexander Bartoc and all the other aviation enthusiasts participating in various ways at the celebrations

The second part of the Memorial flight started by a taking off from Klatovy airfield (LKKT) on Thursday, September 19th at around 10 o´clock. This time we had 3 aircraft participating. The weather was perfect so within two hours we all landed at Neuhof airfield (LFGC) at Strasbourg. Neuhof is a historical airport that was used by CFRNA/CIDNA as an intermediate stop for flights between Paris and Prague. Also, Antoine de Saint Exupéry learnt to fly here.

After refuelling and a very tasty refreshment prepared by Phillipe and Maryla at the airport of Neuhof our group continued to Le Plessis de Belleville airport located next to the CTR of Paris CDG airport. Here we met Mrs Tina Bernachon, Mr Claude Maltese, Mr Stephan Sladek, Mr Xavier Barral, Mr Jean-Claude Roumilhac and had drinks at the local aeroclub bar. Next day our group of aircraft flew back to Neuhof and in the evening participated in a very special welcome organised for us by the Strasbourg City Hall. Very festive atmosphere – beautiful building and rooms, snacks, presentations, CFRNA/CIDNA exhibition. Again, excellent and great to see that we are not alone – Mrs Maryla Boutineau, Mr Alban Schwab, Mr Henry Payre, Captain Philippe Zagala, Sylvain de Fleurie, Mr Bertrand Rohrfritsch,

On Saturday morning all of us flew around several German airports located close to Strasbourg. At 3 p.m. we returned to Neuhof and happily participated in the Open doors day organised by Neuhof airfield. Dinner in the evening, walk around the city and aviation talks and stories. On Sunday morning at 9.30 a.m. we all left Neuhof and flew back over Germany to our various airports in Czech Republic.

Conclusion

Hopefully, we managed to revive the history of CFRNA/CIDNA airline. The first Memorial flight helped us to form a group of enthusiasts and supporters from Czech Republic, Romania and France. We definitely want to organise the next Memorial flight in 2020. We just hope that we will be able to attract the attention also of pilots of other nationalities! After all, CFRNA/CIDNA was the first successful international business venture involving several European nations! 

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