Smartwings, Czech Airlines to cancel flights to UK over Boeing 737 MAX issue

The carriers Smartwings and Czech Airlines will definitively cancel flights to the United Kingdom after having already suspended services to Birmingham and London on their winter flight schedule, the server zdopravy.cz reports.

Smartwings, the majority owner of Czech Airlines, had previously announced it would comply with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) directive on grounding Boeing 737 MAX aircraft after two accidents early this year.

"In a situation where we cannot operate B 737 MAX aircraft in the long term, it is necessary to focus exclusively on optimum commercial use of our fleet and operation of lines that meet our business expectations," Smartwings group spokeswoman Vladimíra Dufková is quoted as saying.

In January, the carriers’ lines to Iceland with a stopover in Copenhagen will also be interrupted. The last connection will fly from Prague on 6 January and back on 7 January. It should be restored in the summer, but without a stopover in Denmark.

Author: Brian Kenety