Transat Adjusts Western Canada Schedule Winter 20/21

Air Transat says it will suspend flights to the south and the United States from Western Canada for the coming winter season.

In an email to TravelPulse Canada, spokesperson Marie-Christine Pouliot said that, "due to the many challenges that our industry is facing, Air Transat will not operate any direct flights from Western Canada to the South or USA for winter 2020-2021.

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"We will operate domestic flights from Vancouver and connecting flights to Europe via Toronto and Montreal," she said. "The details will be unveiled shortly.

"Since the current situation does not allow us to foresee resuming these routes in the near future, customers impacted by these cancellations will receive a refund in the amount received on file."

Meanwhile, a published report in The Globe and Mail says that Transat has again delayed the closing deadline of the proposed Air Canada takeover bid, a deal worth $720 million.

"Transat said on Monday it has delayed the closing date of the deal until Aug. 27, after pushing it back until July 27, as both sides await approvals by Canadian and European Union regulators," the Globe story said.

“Since the European Union’s decision is now expected between Sept. 30 and Nov. 19, and there is no defined date for Canada’s decision, we intend to use as many of those one-month periods as necessary,” Christophe Hennebelle, a spokesman for Montreal-based Transat, told the Globe.

The initial date on which either side was able to walk away from the deal was June 27. Air Canada or Transat are allowed to extend this date at their “sole discretion” by one month on three occasions, and another three times provided certain conditions are met, the paper said.

The agreement approved by Transat shareholders requires Air Canada to pay Transat as much as $40-million if the deal fails to receive regulatory approval.