Eastern Canada’s Air Transat has big ambitions to expand transatlantic flying with its growing fleet of long-range jets, and Africa is now within reach.
Chief executive Annick Guerard told reporters on 23 April that the Montreal-headquartered carrier remains on track to launch its first flights to that continent this summer. Transat plans to operate twice-weekly flights from Montreal to Marrakesh, Morocco starting on 12 June, with a reduced schedule of once weekly flights during winter months.
“We’re very pleased about the booking so far,” Guerard says. “The response from consumers has been very positive since the day we announced this route… We have spoken about the fact that we want to increase our network in North Africa and potentially other places in Africa.”
“This is definitely a goal and part of our strategy in terms of network development,” she adds.
However, Transat’s planned Africa expansion is being hindered by the Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan (GTF) engine issues that have been affecting A320neo-family aircraft operators globally, from Air Baltic to JetBlue to Volaris. “Our development will not go as fast as planned, considering the challenges we’re facing with Pratt & Whitney engines at this point,” Guerard says.
P&W has recalled more than 1,000 PW1000G-family engines, requiring airlines ground jets so the engines can be taken off-wing to address a defective disc issue it flagged last year. The repair process can last hundreds of days. Parent company RTX estimates that the number of jets grounded by the potential manufacturing defect has peaked. It remains unclear exactly how many aircraft are currently out of service for inspections, but Cirium data and analysts suggest the figure is greater than 500.
During Air Transat’s annual call with investors on 23 April, an English-speaking translator for Guerard elaborated on the carrier’s engine troubles.
”It’s not a security problem, but these problems mean the engines need to be returned to the manufacturer more frequently,” she says. “There is a bottleneck of Pratt & Whitney engines from different airlines that is accumulating… There is an impact on costs because we have to lease planes in the short-term market, which is saturated because of this situation.”
During the company’s 14 March earnings call, Transat disclosed plans to temporarily lease three Airbus A330s to help it cover Canada’s upcoming summer travel season. Lack of available aircraft is holding back the carrier’s revenue-generating potential as it seeks sustained profitability, and Transat is negotiating ”compensation for these losses”, Guerard says.
P&W has reportedly reached compensation agreements with nine GTF customers, including an $150-$200 million settlement with Spirit Airlines.
Cirium fleets data show that three of Transat’s PW1100G-powered A321LRs are listed as in storage, which does not necessarily mean they are parked for engine repairs. It currently has 12 of the type in service.
Looking further ahead, the carrier’s long-haul network will get a boost when it starts taking delivery of the four Airbus A321XLRs it placed on long-term lease orders in September 2022. The extra-long range variant of the A321neo has range of 4,700nm (8,700km), according to Airbus.
Transat now expects the first of those jets to arrive in early 2026, Guerard says. “I think the whole industry is anticipating not to have deliveries of the XLR in 2025 [due to] several delays that are happening on the Airbus side.”
Guerard says her team is not concerned about operating GTF-powered aircraft in Africa’s hot and dusty climate – conditions that have reportedly posed problems for next-generation engines.
PARTNERING WITH PORTER
Starting in June, Air Transat plans to launch the first phase of its joint venture with fellow Canadian carrier Porter Airlines, which is based in Toronto.
The airlines intend to coordinate flight schedules and routes in an effort to expand their respective networks and do what many other airlines have attempted unsuccessfully – compete with Air Canada and WestJet.
“The coordination is going to take effect during the summer, basically connecting the domestic and transborder network of Porter with our European network,” she says. “Making sure there is a flow of passengers between those three networks is the first phase.”
Transat, which operates an outsized international network, has long sought an effective means to feed passengers from within Canada and the USA to its international flights.
The airlines will take another step in the fall, when they plan to start coordinating their respective networks in the USA. Air Transat and Porter have potential to become “extremely competitive against Air Canada”, Guerard says, but it will take 18-24 months of feeding one another’s networks to see the full benefits of the partnership.
