Smartwings

Former Travel Service Boeing 737-800 in 2013

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.[4]

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.[5][6] 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%[7][8] 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 now holds a 49.9% stake in Travel Service.[9]

Travel Service owns 98 percent of Czech Airlines; it bought 64% from Prisko and Korean Air in 2017. Before, it owned 34%, bought in 2014.

In 2013, Travel Service has cancelled their order for Boeing 787 Dreamliner and ordered Boeing 737 Max 8.

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.[10] In 2018, it was announced that the Travel Service livery would be replaced by the Smartwings livery.[11] 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.[12]

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.[13]But that is likely to have changed as Czech Airlines newly have 3 Airbus A320s on order, as well as A220s and A321XLRs

• On 22 August 2019, a Smartwings Boeing 737-800 (OK-TVO) operated flight QS-1125 from Samos, Greece to Prague, Czech Republic with 170 passengers on board. The aircraft was flying at 36,000 feet over the Aegean Sea about 100 nm northeast of Athens, Greece when it had an engine failure. The crew drifted the aircraft down to 24,000 without informing ATC of the emergency, only informing them of a "technical malfunction". Instead of, as per engine failure procedure, landing at the nearest suitable airport, 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 has been launched into the incident: "we have decided to launch an investigation as the procedure followed doesn't seem standard."[21][22] Following the incident, the 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.[23] In July 2020, the CAA released the final report by the Air Accidents Investigation Institute (AAII), in Czech ÚZPLN - Ústav pro odborné zjišťování příčin leteckých nehod, which blamed the incident on the captain failing to follow mandatory procedures, including landing as the nearest possible diversion airport after an engine failure.[23][24] As of July 2020 the captain Pavel Veselý continues to pilot Smartwings flights.[25]

Media related to Travel Service at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website