Pegasus Airlines announced, on October 1, 2026, that it had completed the acquisition of Smartwings Group, the largest carrier in the Czech Republic.
Smartwings owns also the historic CSA Czech Airlines brand, although the latter no longer has its own Air Operator Certificate (AOC).
In fact, although Smartwings acquired CSA Czech Airlines in 2024, the holding company was renamed Czech Airlines shortly after, adopting the name of the recently acquired company. The group has since used both brands in its airline operations.
In December 2025, Pegasus Airlines declared that it had offered of €154 million ($179 million at the time, approximately) for 100% of the Czech group. Because of Czech Airlines’ intricate corporate structure, Pegasus controls 70% directly and 30% indirectly through its acquisition of Smartwings, since this entity holds an equity stake in its own parent company.
The acquisition process was then reviewed by the competition authorities in the Czech Republic. It was finally approved in September 2026, after Pegasus Airlines agreed to relinquish some slots on the Prague (PRG)-Antalya (AYT) route.
While the Turkish carrier has not yet provided specific details about how the synergies between the two companies will materialize, Güliz Öztürk, CEO of Pegasus Airlines, has confirmed that the two carriers will cooperate going forward.
In the press release announcing the closure of the deal, she stated: “Pegasus Airlines and Smartwings come together to take that ambition forward. Together we can grow further and offer our guests more choice than any of us could alone. The people and relationships behind each airline are the reason I’m confident in what comes next, and we look forward to writing the next chapter together with all our colleagues.”
Smartwings, which also has subsidiaries in Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, operates a fleet of 39 aircraft (four Airbus A220s, one A320, 14 B737 MAX 8, 18 B737-800 and two B737-900ER). According to ch-aviation data, as of October 2, 2026, the Czech carrier had a further two aircraft (an A320 and a B737-800) listed as inactive.
In turn, Pegasus Airlines currently operates a fleet of 133 narrowbody aircraft (a mix of A320-family and B737 jets), with another 137 on order. It is based at Istanbul Sabiha Göcken (SAW), from where it operates a broad network that extends all the way from western Europe to Central Asia.
