GE Capital Aviation Services Limited (GECAS), the commercial aircraft leasing and financing arm of GE, today announced an agreement to lease four new Boeing 737-800 MAX aircraft to Travel Service. Two of the new aircraft are scheduled for delivery in early 2018 and two in early 2019. The aircraft are the first leased from GECAS’ order of 75 Boeing 737 MAX models already announced.

“We believe the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft is great for operators and lessors alike, and the agreement with Travel Service is evidence of that,” said Declan Hartnett, Executive Vice President and Region Manager, Europe & Canada for GECAS. “With its lower fuel and operating costs and high levels of passenger appeal it will further help our airline customers to grow and differentiate their product.”

Roman Vik, General Director of Travel Service added: “Just like we were the first airline in Central and Eastern Europe to introduce the B737 Next Generation, we are proud to be the first to add the Boeing 737 MAX into our operation with the support of our valuable and long-lasting business partner GECAS. This new generation of an extremely successful medium-range aircraft fits perfectly into our operational pattern and we believe it will contribute substantially to the further growth of our company.”

Travel Service, a.s., an airline company headquartered in Prague, Czech, Republic, is a longstanding GECAS customer and leader in the charter flight market in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary and also has a significant share in Poland. In addition to charter flights, Travel Service operates scheduled flights under the SmartWings brand (www.smartwings.com) and air taxi flights in the business jet category. During the course of a year, Travel Service’s fleet of some 30 aircraft land at more than 250 airports on four continents.