Israel's second largest airline, Israir, has been trying to buy the Czech Smartwings Group for some time. The project has now been put on hold – at least for the time being. But you haven't completely lost interest.

Israir has repeatedly issued stock market announcements in which it has clearly stated that it is negotiating with the owners of Smartwings, that could lead to a takeover, leads. At first it seemed as if a deal was about to be announced. However, little by little the project became extremely quiet. Now things are getting really quiet because Israir confirmed to Passportnews that negotiations with Smartwings shareholders have ended.

At the same time, the managing director of Israir emphasizes that the project has only been put on hold for the time being. The decision is justified by the fact that Israel is currently facing particular challenges. These would also have negative geopolitical consequences. In other words: Due to the war launched by Hamas, Israir is initially concentrating on its own company and is refraining from making acquisitions in Europe for the time being. Negotiations with the Smartwings shareholders will be resumed at a later date. However, there is no timetable for this yet.

The canceled takeover by Israir is unlikely to have any significant impact on the Czech aviation group. Although the company repeatedly flies as part of wet lease orders for Israeli carriers, the core business lies in holiday flights from the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. Furthermore, the company has now become a significant provider in the area of ​​charter flights on behalf of tour operators. According to reports, the negotiations with Israir have shown that the shareholders take the position that they can sell, but do not necessarily have to. Smartwings is considered a financially stable aviation group that is not looking for a new owner.

The former subsidiary CSA is now a sister company. In the wake of the corona pandemic and the associated insolvency proceedings, the carrier was taken over by Smartwings shareholders. There continues to be close cooperation between the two aviation companies. However, CSA is still operating on a “low-low” basis.