Eurowings pushes pan-European growth at its Prague base. Germany's largest leisure airline intensifies its cooperation with the leading Czech airline Smartwings. As part of a bilateral codeshare agreement, connections operated by Smartwings from Prague can now also be booked under Eurowings flight codes.
At launch, the codeshare cooperation between the partner airlines includes flights to the Mediterranean metropolis of Tel Aviv, to the historic city of Valencia in Spain, to Split on Croatia's Dalmatian coast and to Nice on the Côte d'Azur. There are plans to gradually expand the range of routes.
Eurowings customers will thus benefit from a wider range of direct connections from the Czech capital. Eurowings connections from Prague will also continue to be offered under Smartwings flight numbers and marketed via smartwings.com and other channels. The first phase of the codeshare agreement between the two airlines already started in March 2022.
"The cooperation between Eurowings and Smartwings strengthens our position at our European base in Prague and enables us to offer our customers even more travel options from the Czech Republic. Our partnership with Smartwings, which is well established in the Czech domestic market, strengthens our pan-European growth strategy," says Eurowings CEO Jens Bischof.
Smartwings flights from Prague to Tel Aviv, Valencia, Split and Nice now bookable under Eurowings flight number, with more destinations planned.
Eurowings CEO Jens Bischof: "Partnership with Smartwings strengthens pan-European growth."
Travel-intensive strong first half of 2023: Eurowings carries 300,000 passengers to/from Czech capital.
New direct connection Prague – Agadir in Morocco starting in 2023 winter season.
“We are delighted to deepen our codeshare cooperation with our key partner Eurowings. With this codeshare agreement, the networks of our two airlines will be better connected, significantly increasing the number of flight connections to a wide portfolio of destinations for our customers," said Roman Vik, CEO of Smartwings.
Passenger volume in Prague grows by more than 30 percent
Eurowings looks back on a travel-intensive first half of summer 2023 from its European base in Prague. In the first half of the year alone, the Lufthansa subsidiary recorded around 300,000 passengers to and from the Czech capital. This means that the value airline was able to increase its passenger volume in the Czech Republic by more than 30% year-on-year in the busy travel year of 2023.
Eurowings already connects the Czech capital with non-stop flights to up to 20 metropolises and vacation regions in Europe. A new addition as of 1 November will be up to three weekly flights to Agadir in Morocco on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. This makes Eurowings the first airline to offer scheduled flights from the Czech Republic to Morocco.
Eurowings has quickly established itself in the Czech market
"We look back on the successful start of our Prague base, which we have steadily developed within the last two years and will further expand," says Eurowings CEO Jens Bischof. Since opening its base in the Czech capital, the Lufthansa Group airline has significantly expanded its services in Central Europe and quickly established itself in the Czech market.
Eurowings now has three Airbus A320 aircraft stationed in Prague, including local crews. The flights are operated by Eurowings Europe, Eurowings' pan-European flight operation.
Eurowings continues to hire at Prague base
The strong comeback of the travel industry continues to keep Eurowings' human resources department in high gear: the Lufthansa Group airline is expected to approach the threshold of 5,000 employees for the first time by the end of the year and even exceed it next year. The company is also looking for pilots and flight attendants at its European bases, including Prague. Interested parties can find all vacancies and further information at lufthansagroup.careers/eurowings.