Pegasus Airlines has cleared a key regulatory hurdle in its planned acquisition of Smartwings Group after Turkey’s competition authority approved the deal on 12 August 2026. The decision advances Pegasus’s bid to buy the Prague-based airline group and its related operating certificates, including Czech Airlines, as the carrier moves closer to expanding its European network and fleet scale.
The transaction, agreed in December 2025, is expected to transfer Smartwings’s parent company, Prague City Air, to Pegasus through Pegasus Europe B.V., the Dutch acquisition vehicle used for the purchase. The deal has been reported at about EUR154 million and also covers Smartwings’s air operator certificates in Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.
The Turkish clearance removes one of the main regulatory obstacles before closing, but completion still depends on the remaining approvals and final transaction steps. Industry reporting indicates the acquisition could add 47 aircraft to Pegasus’s fleet, strengthening its position in Central and Eastern Europe and increasing competition in the region’s leisure and low-cost markets.