Air Transat (TS, Montréal Trudeau) is "confident" it will receive the A321s previously covered by the seasonal fleet swap agreement with Thomas Cook Group during the upcoming winter season but is also working on contingency plans, VP Human Resources and Corporate Affairs Christophe Hennebelle told The Canadian Press.
"We’re not waiting until the last minute. We’re working to receive the planes, and at the same time we’re thinking of other plans to make sure that the schedule will be respected," Hennebelle said.
The Canadian leisure specialist agreed to lease at least seven Airbus narrowbodies from Thomas Cook airlines during the winter season, which is the high season in Canada but the low season in Europe. In return, Air Transat was due to lease at least one A330-200 to Thomas Cook airlines.
During the Winter 2018/19 season, Thomas Cook Airlines UK leased three A330-200s from Air Transat and Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia (Copenhagen Kastrup) a further one unit of the type.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Air Transat's in-house narrowbody fleet currently consists of four A321-200s, two A320-200neo(LR)s, one B737-700, and five B737-800s. The airline also operates six A310-300s, sixteen A330-200s, and four A330-300s.
Thomas Cook Airlines UK, which suspended operations on September 23 when its parent entered liquidation, continues to own one A321-200 and three A330-200s. However, other group airlines continue to operate. Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia's fleet consists of eight A321-200s, one A330-200, and three -300s.
In turn, Germany's Condor (DE, Frankfurt International) operates seven A320-200s, four A321-200s, fifteen B757-300s, and sixteen B767-300(ER)s. Thomas Cook Airlines Balearics (Palma de Mallorca) and Thomas Cook Aviation (Frankfurt International) are closely linked to the German unit and operate exclusively on its behalf using a total of six A320s and eight A321-200s.
