This winter, five planes from the Czech carrier Smartwings are based at the Indian airport in Ahmadabad. This airport made headlines this spring due to the fatal accident of Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The captain reportedly cut off the fuel supply to both engines of the plane shortly after takeoff, causing the aircraft to crash into the city.
The Czech planes fly from Ahmedabad for SpiceJet, another Indian carrier with which Smartwings has been cooperating for over a dozen years. Boeing 737-800s registered OK-TVM, OK-TVR, OK-TVS, OK-TVU and OK-TVV are based in India. All of them fly with SpiceJet stickers on the fuselage.
Smartwings and SpiceJet are long-standing partners. The cooperation between the two carriers began in 2013, when the Indian carrier leased four Boeing 737-800s to the Czech carrier for the summer season. One Indian aircraft then flew from Prague for Smartwings (then still Travel Service) during the following summer season.
Czech aircraft also went to India four times. The first instance took place in the spring of 2015, when three Boeing 737-800s (OK-TVO, OK-TVX and OK-TSA) were involved. Other followed that same autumn, when a total of five aircraft (OK-TVK, OK-TVO, OK-TVL, OK-TVX and OK-TSF) were sent to India. They had been flying in India until the spring of 2016. Last year, Boeings OK-TVL, OK-TVR and OK-TSD flew with SpiceJet. In addition, an Airbus A319 registered OK-MEL of Czech Airlines was leased to SpiceJet in 2015.
Both carriers planned to cooperate in the spring of 2021, during the pandemic. However, the Boeing 737-800, registered OK-TVT (serial number 39394, year of manufacture 2012) with a SpiceJet sticker never flew to India.
Prepared By: Martin Bernict
Photo: planes.cz
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