Smartwings

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Smartwings
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Boeing 737 MAX 8
IATA ICAO Call sign
QS[1] TVS SKYTRAVEL
Founded1997; 29 years ago (1997)[2]
Operating basesVáclav Havel Airport Prague
SubsidiariesPage Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content.
Fleet size42
Destinations44[3]
Parent companyCzech Airlines[4]
HeadquartersPrague, Czech Republic
Key people
  • Jiří Šimáně
  • Roman Vik
  • Jiří Jurán
Employees2,438[2]
Websitewww.smartwings.com

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Smartwings, a.s. (formerly Travel Service, a.s.)[2] is a Czech airline with its head office on the property of Václav Havel Airport Prague.[5] It is the biggest airline in the Czech Republic, and it operates scheduled and chartered flights, mainly to leisure destinations. The airline also provides aircraft on wet and dry leases to other airlines, and operates charter flights through several subsidiaries: Smartwings Poland, Smartwings Hungary and Smartwings Slovakia.

Although Smartwings previously acquired Czech Airlines in 2017,[6] following the latter's bankruptcy and a major corporate restructuring in October 2024, Czech Airlines was transformed into a holding company, and Smartwings became its wholly owned operating subsidiary.[7][4] In December 2025, it was announced that Pegasus Airlines had reached an agreement to acquire the holding company.[8]

History

Foundation and early years

File:Boeing 737-800 Travel Service (TVS) OK-TVB - MSN 32362 1125 (9739875239).jpg
A Travel Service Boeing 737-800 in 2013
File:Boeing 737-8CX, Travel Service AN1729622.jpg
A Travel Service Boeing 737-800 promoting Prague as destination

Smartwings was founded in September 1997 under the name Travel Service Airlines a.s. and focused on charter flights mainly for Czech tour operators. The first airliner was a Tupolev Tu-154M but in 2000, the air carrier received its first Boeing 737-400 with which own operations were started.

In 2004, Travel Service launched the brand Smart Wings for low-cost flights. 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.[9] 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.[10]

File:Travel Service Airlines Boeing 737-800 Lebeda.jpg
A Travel Service Boeing 737-800 in special livery

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.[11][12] 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%.[13][14] 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.[15]

In 2013, Travel Service cancelled its order for a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and purchased a Boeing 737 MAX 8 instead.[citation needed]

Development since 2017

File:294bd - SmartWings Boeing 737-500; OK-SWZ@ZRH;15.05.2004 (8538223243).jpg
A Boeing 737-500 in special Smartwings 2004 colors

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.[16]

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.[17] In 2018, it was announced that the Travel Service livery would be replaced by the Smartwings livery.[18] Also in that year, deliveries of the new Boeing 737 MAX began.

Travel Service was renamed Smartwings, the name of its former low-cost subsidiary, on December 10, 2018.[19]

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.[20] However, these plans have not materialized, and Czech Airlines maintains its Airbus fleet.[21] 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.[22]

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.[23] In October 2024, Smartwings took over all flight operations of Czech Airlines, continuing to operate them under the Czech Airlines brand, while Czech Airlines was restructured as a holding company.[24]

In December 2025, it was announced the Turkish low-cost airline, Pegasus Airlines has signed an agreement to acquire both Czech Airlines and Smartwings in a deal worth €154 million (3,8 billion CZK).[25][26]

Business figures

File:Smartwings Headquarters.jpg
Headquarters in Prague
Selected financial results of Smartwings, a.s.[27]
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.[28][29]

Codeshare agreements

Smartwings has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

Fleet

Current fleet

File:OK-HCB (8743853107).jpg
Airbus A320-200
File:Smart Wings B737-8 MAX (OK-SWC) @ TFS, Jan 2019.jpg
Boeing 737 MAX 8
Smartwings' fleet share size
Smartwings' fleet share size

As of November 2025, the Smartwings fleet consists of the following aircraft:[37]

Smartwings fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
J Y Total
Airbus A220-300 4 — — 149 149 Operated for Czech Airlines.[38]
Airbus A320-200 2 — — 180 180 2 operated for Czech Airlines.
1 leased from Galistair Malta.[39]
Boeing 737-800 21 — — 189 189
Boeing 737-900ER 2 — — 212 212
Boeing 737 MAX 8 13 — 18[40] 150 168
— 189 189
Total 42 —

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
Cessna Citation Sovereign

Smartwings also operates business jets that are available for private air charter.[45] 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[46] — 9
Cessna Citation Sovereign+ 1[46] — 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 36,000 feet (11,000 m) over the Aegean Sea about 100 nautical miles (120 mi; 190 km) northeast of Athens, Greece when it had an engine failure. The crew drifted the aircraft down to 24,000 feet (7,300 m) 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."[47][48] 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.[49] 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.[49][50] As of July 2020, the captain who piloted the plane during the incident continued to pilot Smartwings flights.[51][unreliable source?]

References

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  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Turkey's Pegasus signs 154 million euro deal to buy Czech airlines Smartwings". Reuters. 8 December 2025.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."SmartWings Příjemná překvapení". iTEST.cz. May 5, 2004.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Travel Service hlásí za loňský rok skoro o pětinu víc cestujících" (in čeština). Novinky.cz. 20 January 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  11. ^ Annual Report of Travel Service 2007
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Icelandair Group signs LOI to acquire Czech airline operator Travel Service". Air Transport World. Retrieved 13 May 2007.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Icelandair Group hf. Prospectus - October 2010" (PDF). euroinvestor.dk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Icelandair Group sells 20% of its share in the Czech airline Travel Service". euroinvestor.dk. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
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  17. ^ Travel Service Rebrand
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  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Konec éry Travel Service. Akcionáři schválili změnu jména na Smartwings". Zdopravy.cz (in čeština). 2018-12-09. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  20. ^ austrianaviation.net - "Smartwings establishes German subsidiary" (German) 7 March 2019
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  22. ^ aero.de (German) 9 February 2021
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  30. ^ a b c d e Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Smartwings NW25 network additions – 12JUN25". aeroroutes.com. 13 June 2025.
  31. ^ a b c d Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Smartwings Poland Northern Summer 2025 Schedule Ignites Travel Frenzy with New Weekly Routes to Kavala, Kutaisi, Tivat, and Larnaca - Travel And Tour World". Travel And Tour World (TTW). 28 January 2025. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
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  38. ^ ch-aviation.com - Czechia's Smartwings to take first A220 in mid-4Q24 3 October 2024
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  50. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Final Report: expert investigation of the causes of a serious incident Boeing B737-800 aircraft, license plates OK-TVO flight TVS1125 from LGSM to LKPR of 22 August 2019 [google translation]" (PDF). Mentourpilot. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  51. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The captain made 21 mistakes. The investigation into the flight of Smartwings on a single engine is over". mbs.news. July 24, 2020.[dead link]

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