Dubai-based flydubai announced that it has finalised an agreement with Smartwings to wet lease four Next-Generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft between 14th December 2019 and 25th January 2020.

The Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance, ACMI, agreement with Smartwings will see four-leased aircraft supplement the carrier’s fleet of 40 Next-Generation Boeing 737-800s and will add more capacity during the busy seasonal travel period.

flydubai’s decision to wet lease the four aircraft from the Czech Republic-based airline is due to the continued grounding of its 14 Boeing 737 MAX since March 2019.

Commenting on the agreement, Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer at flydubai, said: "The continued grounding of our MAX aircraft has had a significant impact on our operations with a 30 percent reduction of our flying schedule. We are taking every effort to minimise disruption for our passengers and these four additional aircraft will enable more passengers to have more options to travel during the holiday season."

Al Ghaith, added: "We are pleased to have concluded our first wet lease agreement with Smartwings, an IOSA, IATA Operational Safety Audit, certified company with a track record of successful ACMI agreements."

"Smartwings is delighted by a new business relationship with flydubai which we value very greatly. This kind of cooperation by Wet Lease Agreement is one of way to achieve even higher and more effective use of our aircraft in winter season when there is lower demand for flying in Europe. We believe that this agreement will intensify the cooperation between both carriers also in the future, " said Roman Vik, CEO of Smartwings.

The all-Economy Class leased aircraft will operate on select routes on the flydubai network including: Bahrain, Colombo, Faisalabad, Karachi, Kuwait, Muscat, Multan, Prague and Sialkot.

flydubai continues to review its plans, exploring all options to minimise disruption to its passengers with the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft and these aircraft will not rejoin the operating schedule until it has received regulatory approval by the General Civil Aviation Authority.