Pegasus Airlines is on the verge of acquiring Smartwings
The green light granted by the Turkish competition authority marks a pivotal step for Pegasus Airlines. The Istanbul-based low-cost carrier can now move forward calmly towards the complete takeover of the Czech group Smartwings and its parent company Czech Airlines, an operation underway for several months and the scale of which could redraw the air map of central and eastern Europe.
The agreement between the two companies dates back to last December, when Pegasus won against LOT Polish Airlines, initially approached to take over Smartwings. The amount of the transaction, around 154 million euros, covers the entire capital of the Czech group as well as the associated debts. The operation is carried out through a Dutch subsidiary, Pegasus Europe B.V., a structure intended to meet European requirements for ownership and control of airlines.
With the validation of the Turkish regulator at the beginning of the summer, all that remains is the authorizations from the jurisdictions where Smartwings operates directly – Czechia, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia – for the takeover to be legally completed, a deadline now expected before the end of the year.
A fleet and a network that changes in scale
The integration of the two groups is not a simple financial operation: it transforms the industrial dimension of Pegasus. The Turkish company, which until then operated just over a hundred aircraft, is absorbing the Smartwings fleet, bringing the total to nearly 130 aircraft. On the network side, the addition is just as significant: to the approximately 160 destinations already served by Pegasus are added the 80 destinations covered by Smartwings in around twenty countries, with a strong anchor in the charter flight segment and tourist connections to the Mediterranean rim and North Africa.
Concretely, this means increased direct access to markets that Pegasus has only indirectly controlled until now: Poland, Hungary and Slovakia become additional anchor points, in addition to the historic hub of Prague. The combined group thus has several operational bases in Central Europe, an asset for increasing connections between Anatolia, Europe and the Mediterranean basin without depending solely on Sabiha Gökçen airport in Istanbul.
Towards new air routes?
If no new destination has yet been officially announced at this stage, the logic of complementarity between the two networks suggests several possibilities: a strengthening of connections between Turkey and Central Europe, better connectivity to seaside destinations popular with Czech, Polish and Hungarian tourists, as well as a possible development of long-haul flights taking advantage of the flexibility offered by the enlarged fleet. Pegasus management also discussed a broader external growth strategy, potentially including other markets such as Turkish-speaking Central Asia and the Middle East.