Air Transat A.T. Inc. is an airline based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, operating scheduled and charter flights and serving 90 destinations in 25 countries. The airline is owned and operated by Transat A.T. During the summer season its main destinations are Europe and domestic flights within Canada and in the winter season the Caribbean, Mexico, USA and South America. It is the designated carrier between Canada and Cuba. Its main base is Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, with hubs at Toronto Pearson International Airport and Vancouver International Airport. The airline also focuses operations at Calgary International Airport and Québec/Jean Lesage International Airport.
History
Air Transat was founded by former Quebecair employees in December 1986 as an off-shoot of Trafic Voyages. It made its inaugural flight on November 14 1987, travelling from Montreal to Acapulco. Six years later, Air Transat assumed defunct Nationair's maintenance base and aircraft. Today, the company books 2.5 million passengers a year. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transat A.T. Inc. Separate companies (Transat Holidays, Nolitours, Jonview Canada) operate under the banner of TDC (Transat Distribution Canada) which specialize in organizing, marketing, and distributing vacation travel and packages. The organization includes tour operators and retail travel outlets based in Canada and France. Today Air Transat is one of Canada's largest airlines, after Air Canada, Air Canada Jazz and WestJet.
On 14 July 2006, Transat announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire British tour operator The Airline Seat Company for £20.4 million (approximately C$42.8 million). Between 1995 and 2006 The Airline Seat Company established a large proportion of its business under the banner of Canadian Affair, a tour operator and agent for charter flights between the UK and Canada.
Air Transat has 2,667 employees.
Incidents and accidents
- On August 24 2001, Air Transat Flight 236, en route from Toronto to Lisbon with 306 crew and passengers, had to make an emergency landing in the Azores without engine power due to fuel starvation over the Atlantic Ocean. The aircraft safely landed at Lajes Air Base, on the island of Terceira. The aircraft was evacuated in 90 seconds. All 306 passengers on board survived. Afterwards, an investigation revealed that the cause of the accident was a fuel leak in the number two engine which was caused by an incorrect part installed in the hydraulics system by Air Transat maintenance staff. The part did not maintain adequate clearance between the hydraulic lines and the fuel line, allowing vibration in the hydraulic lines to degrade the fuel line and cause the leak.
- On March 6 2005, on an Air Transat Flight 961 en route from Cuba to Quebec City, using an Airbus A310-300 with 9 crew and 261 passengers on board, most of the rudder separated during the cruise. The crew became aware of the problem and returned to Varadero, Cuba, where they made a safe landing. The reason for the rudder structural failure is still under investigation. It has been established that no unusual rudder inputs had been used by the crew during the flight, they were not manipulating the rudder when it failed and there was no obvious fault in the rudder or yaw-damper system.
Services
Air Transat specializes in charter flights from several Canadian cities to vacation destinations, mainly in the south during the winter months and in Europe during the summer.
New routes
| Route | Start Date | End Date | Equipment |
|---|---|---|---|
Hamilton - Cancun 
| December 20 | Airbus 310 | |
| Hamilton - Punta Cana | December 21 | Airbus 310 | |
| London, ON - Varadero | December 22 | Airbus 310 | |
| London, ON - Cancun | December 22 | Airbus 310 | |
| Ottawa - Montego Bay | December 20 | Airbus 310 | |
| Ottawa - Cancun | November 15 | Airbus 310 | |
| Ottawa - Puerto Vallarta | December 18 | Airbus 310 | |
| Ottawa - Cayo Coco | December 19 | Airbus 310 | |
| Ottawa - Holguin | December 18 | Airbus 310 | |
| Ottawa - Santa Clara | December 18 | Airbus 310 | |
| Ottawa - Varadero | December 20 | Airbus 310 | |
| Thunder Bay - Punta Cana | December 20 | Airbus 310 | |
| Vancouver - Holguin | December 24 | Airbus 330 | |
Fleet
The Air Transat fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of July 2008) :| Aircraft | Total | Passengers (Club/Economy) | Routes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A310-300 | 13 | 249 (20/229) | Atlantic & South America | Exit from service 2012 |
| Airbus A330-200 | 3 | 342 (21/321) | Atlantic & South America | |
| Airbus A330-300 | 1 | 342 (21/321) | Atlantic & South America | |
As of June 2008, Air Transat fleet average age is 15.8 years old.
Previously operated
Trivia
- At least one Air Transat plane was in the background at JFK in the movie The Terminal. However, Air Transat does not service New York-JFK Airport. The reason the plane is visible is because the movie was shot at Montréal-Mirabel International Airport.
External links
References
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Thursday July 24, 2008 at 12:11:58 PDT (GMT -0700)
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