Transavia France (TO, Paris Orly) is to base two aircraft in Montpellier from next spring, as it plans to open its fourth base in the country.

It joins the carrier’s existing bases at Paris Orly, Lyon St. Exupéry, and Nantes airports, where the low-cost carrier (LCC) was either the second or third most prominent airline at each airport respectively in terms of peak weekly capacity this summer.

Although no destinations have been announced by the LCC, it is believed that Transavia France will offer 20 predominantly Mediterranean points, many of which will be new for the airport.

Looking at weekly seats provided in the peak week this summer from Montpellier, the most prominent carrier was Air France (AF, Paris CDG), followed by easyJet (London Luton) and then Volotea (V7, Barcelona El Prat). Transavia France's Dutch sister company, Transavia Airlines (HV, Amsterdam Schiphol), offered a 4x weekly service from Rotterdam this summer to the French airport.

Commenting on Transavia France's announcement, Emmanuel Brehmer, Chairman of the Executive Board of Montpellier Airport said: “It is with pride and ambition that we welcome this decision. I would like to thank Transavia France for choosing Montpellier as its new base. Let there be no mistake – this is a historic moment and important milestone for our airport and strong signal for our territory.

“Transavia France with two based aircraft thus marks its confidence in the potential of our market and opens up fantastic development prospects. By 2020, a total of nearly 50 direct destinations will be available from MPL!"

Nathalie Stubler, Transavia France's Chief Executive Officer, also commented on the decision: "We are very pleased to announce the opening of our fourth base in Montpellier. The low-cost offer is still undeveloped from this airport, while passenger demand is strong. We will offer beautiful destinations, many of which are not yet directly served."

“For Transavia France, this announcement is an important step in the development of our company with the creation of our first base in the south of France. We are setting up in Montpellier with the desire to become a major player at the airport, as we have done in Paris Orly, Nantes and Lyon."