Air Transat to lease seven A321neo from AerCap

By June 28, 2018 January 16th, 2020 General News

Canada’s Air Transat has signed with AerCap for the long-term lease of seven new Airbus aircraft to be delivered between 2020 and 2022, as the airline continues its ongoing transformation towards a one-make fleet by 2024.

The wholly-owned business unit of Transat A.T. Inc. will receive two A321neos and five A321neo LRs (long-range) single-aisle jets, which it will use to replace widebody A330s whose leases are due to expire over this timeframe.

“We are continuing our fleet transformation in order to achieve greater efficiency and versatility,” said Jean-François Lemay, president of Air Transat. “With their smaller size, the A321neos will enable us to implement our air strategy, which involves increasing our flight frequencies, expanding our network and strengthening our position in several markets. The goal: continue to provide our customers with comfortable service at the best possible price.”

The A321neos will be in a two-class 199-seat configuration and be used for feeder flights and service to the south (short- and medium-haul), while the A321LR will be deployed for sunshine and transatlantic destinations (medium- and long-haul). The new aircraft will be added to 10 A321LRs already agreed for lease from Dublin-based AerCap, announced in July last year, which will gradually be introduced to Air Transat’s fleet starting in spring 2019.

While this type of aircraft has been selected to optimize the fleet, its fuel efficiency will also keep cost per seat as low as possible, while reducing its carbon footprint, added the carrier. Because of the cockpit commonality of the A330 and A320 (including the A321), the airline’s pilots will also be able to fly both types of aircraft, resulting in greater operating flexibility and savings, including on training costs, it continued.

Air Transat’s fleet currently consists of 33 permanent aircraft in a flexible fleet model that allows it to deploy more widebody aircraft in summer for the high transatlantic season, and narrow-body aircraft in winter for the high sunshine destinations season. The airline is planned to have an all-Airbus fleet in operation by 2024.