MSE News: Easyjet passengers told they'll have to fly on Latvian airline's planes

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  • richardw
    richardw Posts: 19,458
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    JuicyJesus wrote: »
    Clearly standard airline practise of codesharing....

    This is not codesharing, it's wet leasing to operate flights.
    Posts are not advice and must not be relied upon.
  • JuicyJesus
    JuicyJesus Posts: 3,825
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    richardw wrote: »
    This is not codesharing, it's wet leasing to operate flights.

    Good spot - either way, who cares? The airline's going to be safe. EU airline regulations are ridiculously stringent.
    urs sinserly,
    ~~joosy jeezus~~
  • CKhalvashi
    CKhalvashi Posts: 12,040
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    So what?

    I've ended up on stuff operated by Titan and others in the past and haven't cared one bit.

    In fact, Titan Airways have built a very successful business based around ACMI to other airlines, either on a scheduled basis (as this is) or because of a misfortune. Smartlynx, I'd imagine, have done similar.
    💙💛 💔
  • blindman
    blindman Posts: 5,659
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    JuicyJesus wrote: »
    This website is crap.

    Nope-

    The standard of journalism is. ;)
  • leylandsunaddict
    leylandsunaddict Posts: 1,923
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    edited 16 March 2017 at 2:00PM
    MSE_Callum wrote: »
    Passengers due to fly with Easyjet this summer may end up flying on aircraft operated by Latvian-based carrier SmartLynx...
    Read the full story:
    'Easyjet passengers with summer bookings told they'll have to fly on Latvian airline's planes - your rights'
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    Click reply below to discuss. If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply. If you aren’t sure how it all works, read our New to Forum? Intro Guide.

    and the point is???..............................

    The MSE articles of late are akin to the front page of the gutter press.

    Book a flight you get a plane. Simples ;)

    Quit scaremongering. It does the site no favours.

    JFI. They've leased 3. 2 will be based at LGW and one at LTN.

    TCX have 2 Smartlynx this summer, 1 Titan and 3 Avion Express, so why the big 'problem' when EZY do it?
  • agarnett
    agarnett Posts: 1,301 Forumite
    edited 16 March 2017 at 5:14PM
    and the point is???..............................

    The MSE articles of late are akin to the front page of the gutter press.

    Book a flight you get a plane. Simples ;)

    Quit scaremongering. It does the site no favours.

    JFI. They've leased 3. 2 will be based at LGW and one at LTN.

    TCX have 2 Smartlynx this summer, 1 Titan and 3 Avion Express, so why the big 'problem' when EZY do it?
    Sorry fellas, I think I know enough about aviation, its risks and trends to argue the toss with most on here save perhaps richardw, and I would not knowingly book a flight on an ex USSR state registered, whether supposedly European safety regulated or not, wet-leased aircraft when I had intended to buy into the safety and overall consistency record of a brand like Easyjet. In practice thesedays I would rather fly Ryanair than Easyjet anyway. I don't think they wet-lease quite so much, although I did read that they may have wet-leased themselves on occasion from Smartlynx.

    So, ticket "substantially not as described" - money back please would be my first thought.

    flightradar24.com brings up a total of 12 airframes operating under the name Smartlynx as an apparent fleet with YL (Latvian) registration prefixes, and two more under a similar name but with Estonian registrations. Wikipedia suggests Smartlynx currently have only 9 as at March 2017. Whether the difference is explained by some other kind of leasing arrangement who knows. I can indeed find nine of the fr24.com listed registrations under the current published Latvian CAA register, but alas it doesn't disclose who the registrants may be, nor anything about the Certificate of Airworthiness dates for example. What it does appear to show is that the Latvian CAA register a total of only some 300 aircraft from the smallest to the largest (cf. over 15,000 for UK CAA I think?) and that the only Airbus on their books are the Smartlynx and 7 of those were registered in the last 12 months or so (but may have been registered earlier with different details perhaps?). Apart from these then, do the Latvian CAA have much experience with Airbus? Do they need to? I don't know. Who does the maintenance? Who own the engines and under what type of arrangement? Who are the crew?

    Size-wise, Smartlynx isn't much of an operation compared to Easyjet itself which appears per fr24.com to have 267 in its fleet. And brand-wise/history-wise/reputation-wise, Smartlynx certainly is no Easyjet either.

    The airline business historically has been very fickle. Ownership can change frequently behind the scenes. Companies fold and are reborn, phoenix-like, quite frequently. It is one of those areas of business where it is said that you can start with a fortune and end up with a smaller one.

    The radio call sign for their aircraft appears to be Tallinn Cat (a play upon the 'Lynx' part of their current brand name I guess, and upon their greater links - forgive pun - with Estonia than with Latvia? Who knows?)

    Scaremongering? In my case, should anyone doubt my intention, I prefer to call my contribution a communication of information of possible use to discerning passengers.

    I suggest Easyjet will know better, or should.

    The ways European states are run are not all the same. There are 32 member states of the European Aviation Safety Agency. The National Aviation Authorities vary. In theory EASA is supposed to set the standard and ensure consistency of compliance thesedays anyway. Maybe it has broad enough reach to do it. I for one do not take that as read.
  • bagand96
    bagand96 Posts: 6,040
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    As others have said, much ado about nothing.

    Thomas Cook use a number of aircraft from this operator and other Eastern European companies every summer.

    Monarch will also be using a SmartLynx aircraft.

    On a Thomson flight you may end up on a Canadian aircraft with Canadian crew.

    Jet2 are subchartering a military aircraft from the RAF! (well not 100% correct, but I'm sure MSE would spin it out that way...)
  • k3lvc
    k3lvc Posts: 4,175
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    agarnett wrote: »
    So, ticket "substantially not as described" - money back please would be my first thought.

    Good luck with that - let us know how you get on
  • bagand96
    bagand96 Posts: 6,040
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    Scaremongering? In my case, should anyone doubt my intention, I prefer to call my contribution a communication of information of possible use to discerning passengers

    Given that you are so interested, you may find their website has an absolute wealth of information. Their fleet page http://www.smartlynx.aero/corporate/fleet has clickable links for each aircraft which offer 8 PDF docments about the aircraft including Airworthiness Review Certificate, Certificate of Airworthiness, Certificate of registration etc etc

    They also have a Company Documents page http://www.smartlynx.aero/corporate/company-documents which has their Air Operators Certificate, Operating License, Insurances etc

    It's fair to say easyJet will have done their homework in far more depth also.
  • So, ticket "substantially not as described" - money back please would be my first thought.

    Ticket was a flight from A - B at the quoted price, and that is all. That won't change.
    The radio call sign for their aircraft appears to be Tallinn Cat (a play upon the 'Lynx' part of their current brand name I guess, and upon their greater links - forgive pun - with Estonia than with Latvia? Who knows?)

    Smart Lynx Latvia callsign is Smart Lynx. Smart Lynx Estonia is Tallin Cat.
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