Czech Airline Group Smartwings Rejects State Involvement in Firm

May 19, 2020

Prague (dpa) - Czech flight group Smartwings rejected state involvement in its business on Monday, after the country's industry minister suggested the government could step in to help.

The novel coronavirus pandemic has halted much of the world's air traffic and left a huge economic impact on airlines.

Industry minister Karel Havlicek said over the weekend the Czech government could step in to help Smartwings, or even take over the company entirely.

But a spokeswoman for the company said Monday that no one had expressed any such desire for that to happen.

The firm has been pushing instead for a state-guaranteed credit line.

Alongside budget carrier Smartwings, the group includes Czech Airlines, which resumed its operations on Monday after two months.

The first flights went to Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam.

Foreign tourists are currently still barred from entering the Czech Republic.

———

©2020 Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany)

Visit Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany) at www.dpa.de/English.82.0.html

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.