Air Transat (TS, Montréal Trudeau) has secured the lease of three additional A330-200s to support its network needs and offset A321-200NX(LR) groundings due to Pratt & Whitney engine issues, chief executive Annick Guérard said during an earnings call.

The airplanes are expected to arrive during summer 2024, with two being sourced from Avolon, Air Transat confirmed ch-aviation. The carrier is working on secure the third airframe at the moment.

The Canadian carrier currently has four aircraft grounded due to the Pratt & Whitney situation, a number that is expected to increase to six before the end of 2024 and up to eight in 2025.

Air Transat expects to add its final four new A321neo(LR)s over the coming months, Guérard said, after which it will then have a full fleet of 19 aircraft. The company is also in line to receive four A321-200NY(XLR)s once the variant is certified.

In its financial presentation, the airline indicated that the A330s will be delivered before the Summer 2024 season but did not disclose their registration numbers, dates of arrival, ownership, or lease durations. The carrier has put in place several strategies to offset the impact of the groundings, including extending leases on existing aircraft, short-term leases, and improving fleet optimisation.

The ch-aviation fleets module shows that Air Transat operates a fleet of 37 in-house aircraft, plus seven wet-leases. It comprises one A320-200, eight A321-200s, fifteen A321neo(LR)s, eleven A330-200s, and two A330-300s, plus five B737-8s wet-leased from SmartLynx Airlines Malta, one B737-800 from Smartwings (Czechia), and one DHC-8-300(MPA) from PAL Aerospace. It plans to reduced its "medium-haul" narrowbody fleet to eight during the Summer 2024 season, terminating its seasonal wintertime wet-leases and retiring one of its in-house narrowbodies. Its "medium-haul" fleet will consist of A321s, suggesting the imminent phase-out of the last remaining A320-200, C-GEXI (msn 3762).

Due to the overall impact of the groundings, Air Transat reduced its fiscal 2024 planned capacity increase from 19% to 13%. The airline said that both the cost of the engine-related groupings and expensive leases have driven its costs up. Aircraft leases have gone up by CAD4.8 million Canadian dollars (USD3.5 million) in the first quarter of 2024, primarily due to the GTF-related factors.