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DALLAS — Canada's leisure carrier, Air Transat (TS), parent company Transat AT recently announced the fiscal first-quarter revenue of C$667m (US$483m). However, during the fiscal-quarter earnings results, it also revealed that it expects delivery delays for three Airbus A321LRs on order.
The 36-year-old Montreal-based airline operates a fleet of 34 aircraft, which includes Airbus A321s, A330s, and Boeing 737s. It flies to around 60 international destinations across 25 countries in the Americas and Europe.
Q1 Revenue
As reported by Flightglobal, the airline posted a three-fold Q1 revenue increase compared with the same period last year. In 2022 it reported C$202m (approx. US$145m). This year, it reached C$667m (US$483m).
However, the Canadian carrier's CEO, Annick Guerard, stated they also lost C$57m (approx US$41m). He says it's a "challenging" road to profitability as TS continues to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
While last year, in the same first quarter airline reported a loss of C$114m (US$82.25m) amid the Omnicron variant of COVID-19, leading to 30% flight cancellations.
Patrick Bui, TS Chief Financial Officer (CFO), said, "Our focus went from cash preservation, which is consistent with a crisis mode mindset, to focus on cash generation and profitability, which attests to a return to normalcy."
Delivery Delays
The airline was expecting the delivery of three Airbus A321LRs this spring. But Guerard said, "the industry supply chain is experiencing sporadic difficulty."
TS now expects the airframes to be delivered by the end of summer. Their addition will see its fleet grow to 15 examples. The airline also plans to take delivery of two additional A321LRs next year.
During the company's first-quarter earnings conference, Guerard explained that one A321LR that sustained damage on the ground in Vancouver (YVR) is out of service, "so we don't have access to that aircraft."
"The aviation and travel sectors have not fully recovered. For example, some of our aircraft are delivered late, requiring the implementation of short-term aircraft leasing transactions," he added.
Amid delays, the airline plans to operate three A321ceos and one Boeing 737 plane on an ACMI agreement basis for its northern hemisphere routes by the end of the winter.
Moreover, TS has a long-term lease agreement with lessors for A321XLRs which they expect to receive by the end of 2025. The ultra-long-range narrowbody airliner will help boost its frequency over transatlantic routes.
https://airwaysmag.com/air-transat-expands-summer-2023
Feature Image: Air Transat C-GTZX Airbus A321-211 | Photo: Liam Funnell/Airways
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