The District Court of Prague VI ordered the clearance of those two ATR72-500s from CSA, which were used by the maintenance company Czech Airlines Technics, which is indirectly owned by the state, because of unpaid bills were put on the chain.

Apart from the business relationship and the similar company names, the two companies have nothing in common. CSA Czech Airlines is owned by the Smartwings Group and the maintenance operation is owned by intermediate companies in the Czech Republic. The two ATR72-500s were refused due to open claims. CSA therefore had to cancel flights at short notice, but the maintenance company pointed out that the Smartwings Group could have compensated for this with other machines.

According to spokeswoman Vladimíra Dufková, the court upheld CSA's objection that airlines are particularly protected due to a state order. Czech Airlines Technics has also been prohibited from taking similar measures in the future. The matter is not over yet, however, because the MRO company has already announced an appeal against the decision in the first instance.