LONDON – Air Transat has announced plans to add Las Vegas to its route network ahead of its Winter program, after a hiatus of seven years.

From November 3, the airline will commence services non-stop from Montreal, bringing the total destination count to more than 50 destinations across the globe.

The route will operate on a four times per-week basis for the carrier.

Barre: Trip of Dreams…

Commenting on the route announcement was Michele Barre, Air Transat’s VP of Network, Revenue Management & Pricing:

“Many Canadians are finally ready to take the trip they have been dreaming of over the past two years”.

“On one hand, Las Vegas represents the creation of new opportunities for both leisure and business travel.”

“On the other, with the return of direct flights to Havana, New Orleans, and Tampa, we are proposing even more possibilities to explore sunny destinations. We are proud to offer our passengers a diverse flight network on four continents to not only meet but continually exceed their expectations.”

Additional Destinations…

Air Transat is also set to re-introduce services to the likes of New Orleans twice-weekly, Havana thrice-weekly, and Tampa twice-weekly.

New Orleans will commence on November 3, with Havana on December 19, and Tampa on December 23.

The airline is also enhancing three other routes from Montreal as well. The Montreal-London & Montreal-Los Angeles service will be upgraded year-round from seasonal, to begin with.

On top of this, the airline is extending its Montreal-Marseille service until January 8 next year on a twice-weekly basis.

Such announcements have been the largest the carrier has made throughout 2022, with the airline resuming services to Faro back in January, to begin with.

Then, earlier last month, the airline launched its Quebec City-London Gatwick route. With the enhanced London services, this means that Air Transat is securing some strong revenue streams.

A Better Year Ahead?

In April 2021, Air Canada terminated its merger plans with Air Transat, following no approval from the European Commission after a two-year battle.

The cancellation resulted in Air Canada having to pay a termination fee of $12.5 million to Transat itself.

Such a cancellation did mire the successes of Air Transat going forward, but not as much as for Air Canada in all of this.

However, the point to be made is that Air Transat is taking things nice and steady, and this can be seen from their return on investment resulting in frequency and service upgrades.

As we approach the Summer 2022 schedule in more detail, and even as far as the Winter 2022/23 program, all eyes are going to be on Transat to see how much further they can take their brand.

Overall…

What remains clear is that Air Transat is experiencing considerably positive demand from its consumers, meaning they are definitely penetrating the correct markets.

The key now is to continue this momentum into the Summer & Winter programs in order to secure as much revenue as possible, keep costs down, and return to some form of recovery.

Either way, the ball is very much in the court of Air Transat at present.