It’s been a rough year for Air Transat, who earlier this month announced that earnings and revenue are down this year. For the third quarter, which ended July 31, 2016, the airline, a part of a multi-channel travel company, posted revenues of $663.6 million as compared to $704.8 million for the same period in 2015, for decrease of $41.3 million, or 5.9%.

In part, company execs blame a drastically increased supply in the transatlantic market.

"The transatlantic market overall, and the United Kingdom in particular, has been affected by drastically increased supply, and demand that cannot keep up quickly enough, fuelled in part by terrorism-related fears," said Jean-Marc Eustache, President and Chief Executive Officer of Transat. "We are relatively satisfied with our results, given the circumstances, but we cannot hope for a repeat of our outstanding summer-season performance over the past two years."

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Despite arguments about supply and demand, it seems that Air Transat plans to use the classic “fight fire with fire” strategy to try to rebound its business, as the airline has just announced that it is “optimizing” its transatlantic routes, in part by increasing service to France, the UK and the Mediterranean.

"Air Transat is committed to making Europe accessible to the greatest number of Canadian travellers, which is why we are proud to enhance our flight program yet again this year," says Annick Guérard, President and General Manager of Transat Tours Canada. "We stand out by offering one of the most diverse transatlantic portfolios on the market, so it was important to expand our program to offer our clients greater flexibility when it came to planning their vacations."

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Still, while other airlines are introducing new routes and connections faster than bunnies reproduce, Air Transat is mostly offering slight increases to an existing schedule, rather than making any dramatic changes to its overall flight map.

In fact, the key to Air Transat’s growth strategy seems to be a concerted focus on new domestic routes and increased international scheduling from Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.

The airport, like many in Canada, is having a record-breaking year. It welcomed 7.9 million passengers during the first half of 2016, an increase of 4.9 per cent over the same period last year. It also reclaimed its slot as the third-busiest airport in Canada this year, after being surpassed by Calgary International Airport a few years ago.

Air Transat has said it will increase, by one flight per week, service on its Montreal-Paris route (increasing to 14 direct flights a week) as well as its Montreal-Marseille route (increasing to five direct flights a week.)

Mediterranean destinations, such as Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal, will also see flight increases, with a new schedule that includes:

•             Montreal-Athens (three direct flights a week)
•             Montreal-Venice (three direct flights a week)
•             Montreal-Barcelona (five direct flights a week)
•             Montreal-Madrid (two direct flights a week)
•             Montreal-Malaga (two direct flights a week)
•             Montreal-Porto (two direct flights a week)
•             Montreal-Lisbon (four direct flights a week)

The airline will also increase service on its Toronto-Athens route up to three direct flights per week.

Travellers to Central Europe will enjoy more frequency on the Montreal-Prague route, which will increase to twice a week. Service is also increasing on the Toronto-Zagreb connection.

For Dublin, Air Transat will maintain is one flight per week from Montreal but increase service between Toronto and Dublin, for a total of three flights a week.

Air Transat also announced it will strengthen its domestic network by inaugurating two new routes: one from Montreal to Vancouver (two flights per week) and another between Ottawa and Montreal (three flights per week.). It is also increasing service on existing routes from Montreal to Toronto (daily) and Quebec City (five flights per week.) From Toronto, the airline is increasing connections to Vancouver (daily) and Calgary (four flights per week.)

Other changes for the airline include service on an Airbus A330 for most flights to Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Nice, Nantes, London, Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham. Additionally, passengers will benefit from a multi-destination option, in which they can land in one European city and return from another at no extra cost.

For more information, visit www.airtransat.com.

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