15 reviews
Hello everyone and welcome to this series of a few days in Prague, where my partner was on business trip, staying at the hilton… So why not crushing in?! XD
I had to book my seperate flights of course but the rest was paid off! The best holidays XD
We will see it but this trip is actually something to remember as it was the first time I flew on an A320NEO and B737Max8… during the same travel!
My partner flew BA on both ways, I went for U2 on the way out and CSA on the way back, as a Flying Blue member I wanted to take advantage of the free checkin luggage policy to bring wine; and also because it was just about 10eur more expensive than Easyjet.
Flying blue Miles earned with this flight: 176
Status earned: 5 XP
Even though I booked this trip with CSA, I later discovered that the flight will be operated by Smartwings that bought out CSA.
I nonetheless used the app to manage my booking and try to checkin.
I tried to choose the seat online but it wouldn't accept my payment as I guess i booked the fligth through CSA..
Prague was a really lovely city to discover
We arrived some good 2hours before my flight, and 1hour before my partners as he was flying with BA on business paid by his employer.
The cool thing of the airport is that there is a terrace for smokers and avgeeks..
I came back to this terrace whilst I was awaiting for my flight alone..
Some special CSA livery and the Air France A321 arriving… There is very little mystery as of where it was coming from!
I was trying to zoom in to capture the B737Max coming, apoligies for the poor quality.
When I came back inside I had the bad suprise to see that my flight was about 1,5 hours delayed and with no information about the rationale…
Here is our bird of the day… and my first onboard the B737 Max!
Aircraft: Boeing B737Max8
Registration: OK-SWA
Engines: 2x CFMI LEAP
Age: 4 Years
Layout: Y189
Observation: the first B737Max of Smartwings
I am not sure if priorities were called or not when boarding was launched, I just remember that there were no mention of CSA anywhere - it was like as if CSA was some sort of travel agent!!
Boeing hasn't changed much on the nose of their 737 series since the 60s…
Back then I was really excited to jump on a new plane, this was a fun trip, two new engine options aircrafts on each way… Of course this was just about a year before the crashes happened and the type was grounded all over the world.
I think I would avoid the type now - hence no chance of you seeing me flying ryanair or BA in the future.
Anyway here is the CFMI LEAP engines, that are the same as the A320Neo on the way out, except the shape of the engine is slightly different of course.
The door moment… Yes it is Smartwings and no it isn't part of any alliances…
You can see the mood lighting is also present at the door, a nice thing.
I managed to board amongst the first, to have this picture with not so many passengers.
The seats were actually comfortable enough for a low cost and the pitch not that bad. It felt a bit like easyjet.
I was sitting right behind the emergency exits.
Push back and the first time I heard the CFMI LEAP engines on a B737 Max… which of course sounds close to the A320Neo.
Another British Airways landed in the meantime, when my partner was already in the air!
Safety demonstrations…
and the taxi towards the gate
and take off..
As you can see my phone isn't the best to take pictures at night and I know it so i don't take that many pictures, except the following one - I was really lucky to get the beacon moment!
Smartwings offers a Buy on Board menu, and the prices are found at the end of the in-flight magazine. As you can see it is fairly priced.
The cabin just before the service started.
Speaking of the magazine, the editorial line was a bit interesting…
Some dossiers about Tom Hanks and Madrid
And of course their brand new B737Max - where I was onboard!
and the network page, that the company took over from CSA…
PRG: Airport well organised and fluid with a fair amount of service
Smartwings: A pleasant surprise for a low-cost airline, the pitch was fairly good. My first time in a B737Max, and I am not sure I would fly again on the type, especially since the recent developments.
The BOB is fairly priced, but still for me any bob menu would be ranked less than 5. This was a bit strange to have booked with CSA and ended up on a low cost - shame for CSA to have been bought by its competitor.
LGW: always bit long to arrive at north terminal
5 Comments
The moodlighting from the door is something I haven't seen before.
All the best!
Yes this was one surprise for me too at your door moment!
See you soon!
Nice to see a review on the SmartWings MAX as I haven't seen many (especially since they were grounded for so long). Do you remember there being streaming IFE? They have it now, but maybe it wasn't installed back in 2018
Thanks for sharing!
yes my first and only Max experience to this day and not sure if I'll fly again on one, the jury is out..
No I don't remember that they had IFE, and you can't see any from the pictures
Have you ever flown with them?
Thanks!
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