Smartwings Explained

Airline:	Smartwings
Iata:	QS^[1]
Icao:	TVS
Callsign:	SKYTRAVEL
Fleet Size:	37
Destinations:	46^[2]
Num Employees:	2,438
Founded:	^[3]
Headquarters:	Prague, Czech Republic

Smartwings, a.s. (formerly Travel Service, a.s.)^[3] is a Czech airline with its head office on the property of Václav Havel Airport Prague in Ruzyně, 6th district, Prague.^[4] 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 also owns 30% of Czech Airlines (with the majority held by Prague City Air, Smartwings' owner) and has subsidiaries in Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.

History

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. Since then the airline has been operating a mainly Boeing fleet.

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.^[5] 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.^[6] 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.^{[7] [8]} 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%.^{[9] [10]} 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.^[11]

In 2013, Travel Service cancelled its order for a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and purchased a Boeing 737 Max 8 instead.

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.^[12]

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.^[13] In 2018, it was announced that the Travel Service livery would be replaced by the Smartwings livery.^[14] 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.^[15]

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.^[16] However, as of 2022 these plans have not materialized, and Czech Airlines maintains its Airbus fleet.^[17] 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.^[18]

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.^[19] In May 2024, it has been announced that Smartwings will take over all Czech Airlines' operations under their new joint ownership while the latter will be repurposed into a holding company.^[20]

Business figures

Selected financial results of Smartwings, a.s.^[21] ! 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

Fleet

Current fleet

, the Smartwings fleet consists of the following aircraft:^[22]

Smartwings fleet

Aircraft	In service	Orders	Passengers			Notes
			C	Y	Total
Boeing 737-700	2	-	-	148	148
Boeing 737-800	23	-	18	150	168
			-	189	189
Boeing 737-900ER	2	-	-	212	212
Boeing 737 MAX 8	10	3^[23]	-	189	189
Total	37	3

Historic fleet

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

• Airbus A320-200
• Boeing 737-400
• Boeing 737-500^[24]
• Boeing 757-200
• Boeing 767-300ER
• Tupolev Tu-154M^[25]

Business jet fleet

Smartwings also operates business jets that are available for private air charter.^[26] 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^[27]	-	9
Cessna Citation Sovereign+	1	-	9
Total	5	-

Accidents and incidents

• On 22 August 2019, a Smartwings Boeing 737-800 (Registration: OK-TVO) operated flight QS-1125 from Samos, Greece to Prague, Czech Republic with 170 passengers on board. The aircraft was flying at 36000feet over the Aegean Sea about 100nmi northeast of Athens, Greece when it had an engine failure. The crew drifted the aircraft down to 24000feet 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 and 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."^{[28] [29]} 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.^[30] 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.^{[30] [31]} As of July 2020 the captain who piloted the plane during the incident continues to pilot Smartwings flights.^[32]

External links

• Official website

Notes and References

1. Web site: IATA - Airline and Airport Code Search. iata.org. 11 April 2015.
2. Web site: Smartwings (Czechia) on ch-aviation . 2023-11-09 . ch-aviation . en.
3. Web site: Výpis z obchodního rejstříku - Smartwings, a.s.. Ministry of Justice of the Czech Republic. cs.
4. Web site: Travel Service Contacts. Travel Service, a.s..
5. Web site: May 5, 2004. SmartWings Příjemná překvapení. iTEST.cz.
6. Web site: Travel Service hlásí za loňský rok skoro o pětinu víc cestujících. 20 January 2014 . Novinky.cz. cs. 20 January 2015.
7. Annual Report of Travel Service 2007
8. Web site: Icelandair Group signs LOI to acquire Czech airline operator Travel Service. Air Transport World. 13 May 2007.
9. Web site: Icelandair Group hf. Prospectus - October 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090429/http://www.euroinvestor.dk/pdf/cse/11382129_22103.pdf . 2016-03-04 . euroinvestor.dk.
10. Web site: Icelandair Group sells 20% of its share in the Czech airline Travel Service. euroinvestor.dk. 26 November 2009.
11. Web site: Chinese-backed firm Travel Service to take over Czech Airlines. Reuters. 6 November 2017. 30 November 2017.
12. Web site: ČSA oslavily 99 let. Až překonají stovku, chtěly by létat i s Airbusy A220-300. . 2022-10-11 . Airways.cz. cs.
13. https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/60187-czech-airlines-has-new-owner-as-travel-service-ups-stake Travel Service Rebrand
14. News: Travel Service mění nátěr letadel. Místo červené bude oranžová a logo Smartwings. 2018-03-16. Zdopravy.cz. 2018-03-31. cs-CZ.
15. Web site: 2018-12-09. Konec éry Travel Service. Akcionáři schválili změnu jména na Smartwings. 2021-03-05. Zdopravy.cz. cs.
16. http://www.austrianaviation.net/detail/smartwings-baut-deutsche-tochter-airline-auf/ austrianaviation.net - "Smartwings establishes German subsidiary"
17. Web site: Aircraft Fleet . 2022-05-20 . Czech Airlines.
18. https://www.aero.de/news-38599/Smartwings-will-noch-im-Februar-die-737-MAX-einsetzen.html aero.de
19. https://www.ch-aviation.com/news/137487-smartwings-becomes-fully-czech-owned-company ch-aviation.com - Smartwings becomes fully Czech-owned company
20. https://www.ch-aviation.com/news/140396-czechias-csa-to-become-holding-co-smartwings-to-run-ops ch-aviation.com - Czechia's CSA to become holding co, Smartwings to run ops
21. Web site: Annual Report — Zpráva nezávislého auditora — k účetní závěrce a výroční zprávě — za období od 01.01.2017 do 31.12.2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20210602213434/https://or.justice.cz/ias/content/download?id=0aac1c8b128e402380f0dfd0f91b867b. dead. June 2, 2021. eJustice. Rödl & Partner Audit, s.r.o.
22. Web site: Smartwings fleet details and history . Planespotters.net . 1 May 2023.
23. Web site: Smartwings mají po čtyřech letech další 737 MAX, převezmou ještě pět. zdopravy.cz. 5 May 2023. 14 December 2023.
24. Web site: Planes.cz.
25. Web site: Planes.cz.
26. Web site: Business jet . jet.smartwings.com. 28 September 2021.
27. News: Travel Service rozšíří flotilu business jetů, první v Evropě kupuje novou Cessnu. E15.cz. 2017-03-11. cs.
28. News: Engine of a SmartWings Boeing 737-800 shuts down in-flight, crew continues to Prague for another 2 hours and 20 minutes on remaining engine . 30 August 2019 . Aviation24.
29. News: Smartwings probed for continuing flight after engine failure . 30 August 2019 . Reuters.
30. Web site: Investigation Blames Pilot Error For Smartwings Engine Shutdown Incident. Gibertini. Vanni. Airline Geeks. 26 July 2020. 2 August 2020.
31. Web site: 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] ]. Mentourpilot . 22 August 2020 . CZ-19-0776.
32. News: The captain made 21 mistakes. The investigation into the flight of Smartwings on a single engine is over . mbs.news . July 24, 2020.