Smartwings

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Smartwings' fleet share size
Smartwings' fleet share size

Smartwings, a.s. (formerly Travel Service, a.s.)[1] is a Czech airline with its head office on the property of Václav Havel Airport Prague in Ruzyně, 6th district, Prague.[2] It is the biggest airline in the Czech Republic, and it operates scheduled and chartered flights, mainly to leisure destinations. The airline also wet and dry leases its aircraft to other airlines. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Czech Airlines[3] and has subsidiaries in Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia.

History

File:Smartwings Headquarters.jpg
Smartwings head office in Prague
File:294bd - SmartWings Boeing 737-500; OK-SWZ@ZRH;15.05.2004 (8538223243).jpg
A former Smartwings Boeing 737-500 in 2004
File:Boeing 737-800 Travel Service (TVS) OK-TVB - MSN 32362 1125 (9739875239).jpg
A former Travel Service Boeing 737-800 in 2013

Foundation and early years

Smartwings was founded in 1997 originally under the name Travel Service and focused on operating charter flights mainly for Czech tour operators. Its first airplane was a Tupolev Tu-154M. In 2000, Travel Service received its first Boeing 737-400.

In 2004, Travel Service launched its low-cost brand Smartwings. Travel Service leased two Boeing 737-500s from Lufthansa which were primary intended for Smartwings flights. Both aircraft were painted in the new Smartwings livery. Former Czech president Václav Klaus attended the opening ceremony, which was held on May 1, 2004.[4] In 2007, the company carried 2.2 million passengers, and a year later about 2.3 million passengers. In 2014, it carried 4.3 million passengers, about 1.2 of them on regular flights under the brand name Smartwings.[5] On 18 September 2007, the Icelandair Group acquired 50% stake in the carrier, and purchased further shares to bring its holding up to 80% by April 2008. In December 2008, it reduced its holding to 66% by selling shares to the other shareholders, Unimex.[6][7] In 2009, their stake was further diluted to 50.1% through a new share issue; they also sold a portion of their stake to fellow owners, reducing their holding to 30%.[8][9] In 2009, Icelandair spun its 30% stake in Travel Service into a new company, which was taken over by Icelandair's creditors. Chinese investment group CEFC China Energy then held a 49.9% stake in Travel Service.[10]

In 2013, Travel Service cancelled its order for a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and purchased a Boeing 737 MAX 8 instead.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Development since 2017

Travel Service owned 98 percent of Czech Airlines; it bought 64% from Prisko and Korean Air in 2017. Before, it owned 34%, bought in 2014. After Czech Airlines went through business restructuring, Smartwings retained 30% of the company.[11]

In October 2017, it was announced that Travel Service planned to transfer its branding from an airline to a holding company, and would move all of its operations under the Smartwings brand.[12] In 2018, it was announced that the Travel Service livery would be replaced by the Smartwings livery.[13] Also in that year, deliveries of the new Boeing 737 MAX began.

Travel Service was renamed to Smartwings, the name of its former low-cost subsidiary, in December 2018.[14]

In March 2019, Smartwings announced plans to create a German subsidiary by late 2019, and to transition its Czech Airlines subsidiary to an all-Boeing 737 fleet.[15] However, as of 2022, these plans have not materialized, and Czech Airlines maintains its Airbus fleet.[16] In February 2021, Smartwings announced the return of their stored Boeing 737 MAX to service by the end of the month, the first European airline to resume operations following the flying ban lasting over 20 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[17]

In February 2024, then owner CITIC – which bought its shares from CEFC – sold all of its shares in Smartwings to Czech-owned Prague City Air, which also owns the majority in Czech Airlines.[18] In October 2024, Smartwings took over all flight operations of Czech Airlines, operating under the Czech Airlines brand, while Czech Airlines was restructured as a holding company.[19]

Business figures

Selected financial results of Smartwings, a.s.[20]
Million CZK 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Operating revenues 15,010 13,992 15,558 16,902 29,864
Operating profit 86 149 274 488 71 223 303
Net profit after tax 47 158 60 192 193 (500) 81
Assets 1,998 2,798 2,993 3,728 4,458 4,342 5,964
Equity 575 735 777 982 1,981 1,443 1,552
Liabilities 593 1,315 1,320 1,470 2,384 2,771 4,174

Destinations

Smartwings serve over 40 destinations in 25 countries from their hub at Václav Havel Airport Prague. Additionally, some flights are operated from Brno and Ostrava airports. The airline primarily focuses on leisure destinations across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.[21][22]

Codeshare agreements

Smartwings has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

Fleet

File:SmartWings, OK-TSF, Boeing 737-8GJ (28252068128).jpg
Smartwings Boeing 737-800
File:Smart Wings B737-8 MAX (OK-SWC) @ TFS, Jan 2019.jpg
Smartwings Boeing 737 MAX 8

Current fleet

Template:As of, the Smartwings fleet consists of the following aircraft:[28]

Smartwings fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
C Y Total
Airbus A220-300 4 — — 149 149 Operated for Czech Airlines.[29]
Airbus A320-200 8 — — 180 180 2 operated for Czech Airlines.
1 leased from Galistair Malta.[30]
Boeing 737-700 2 — — 148 148
Boeing 737-800 21 — — 189 189
Boeing 737-900ER 2 — — 212 212
Boeing 737 MAX 8 13 — 18[31] 150 168
— 189 189
Total 50 —

Historic fleet

Smartwings and formerly Travel Service also operated the following aircraft types:

Business jet fleet

File:Cessna 680 Citation Sovereign, Travel Service Airline JP7718802.jpg
Smartwings Cessna Citation Sovereign

Smartwings also operates business jets that are available for private air charter.[36] As of January 2017, the business jet fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Smartwings business jet fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
Cessna Citation Sovereign 4[37] — 9
Cessna Citation Sovereign+ 1[37] — 9
Total 5 —

Incidents

  • On 22 August 2019, a Smartwings Boeing 737-800 (Registration: OK-TVO) operated flight QS-1125 departed from Samos, Greece to Prague, Czech Republic with 170 passengers on board. The aircraft was flying at Template:Convert over the Aegean Sea about Template:Convert northeast of Athens, Greece when it had an engine failure. The crew drifted the aircraft down to Template:Convert without informing ATC of the emergency, only informing them of a "technical malfunction". Instead of landing at the nearest suitable airport, as per engine failure procedure, the flight crew carried on to Prague at that level for a landing without further incident about 2 hours 20 minutes later. The Czech Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) confirmed that an investigation had been launched into the incident: "we have decided to launch an investigation as the procedure followed doesn't seem standard."[38][39] Following the incident, Prague police launched an investigation into the flight on suspicion of endangering the public due to negligence, and a Smartwings internal investigation demoted the captain from his post as head of flight operations.[40] In July 2020, the CAA released the final report by the Air Accidents Investigation Institute (AAII), which blamed the incident on the captain failing to follow mandatory procedures, including landing at the nearest possible diversion airport after an engine failure.[40][41] Template:Asof, the captain who piloted the plane during the incident continued to pilot Smartwings flights.[42]Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

References

Template:Reflist

External links

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Template:Portal bar Template:Airlines of the Czech Republic Template:A4E Template:Authority control

  1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named register
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  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Annual Report of Travel Service 2007
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Travel Service Rebrand
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ austrianaviation.net - "Smartwings establishes German subsidiary" (German) 7 March 2019
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ aero.de (German) 9 February 2021
  18. ↑ ch-aviation.com - Smartwings becomes fully Czech-owned company 27 February 2024
  19. ↑ ch-aviation.com - Czechia's CSA to become holding co, Smartwings to run ops 16 May 2024
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ a b c d e Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  26. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  29. ↑ ch-aviation.com - Czechia's Smartwings to take first A220 in mid-4Q24 3 October 2024
  30. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  31. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  32. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  33. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  34. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  35. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  36. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  37. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  38. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  39. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  40. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  41. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  42. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".Template:Dead link
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