Transavia to boost flights to Cyprus as bookings return

Transavia, which flies to/from Cyprus from Amsterdam, is planning to boost its flights to twice per week in the winter, and once per day in the summer. This is a return to the same levels as in 2o19, the company said in an email.

Transavia, which has more than 100 destinations in Europe, has seen its capacity rise from 10 per cent in 2020 to 85 per cent currently.

Transavia CEO Marcel de Nooijer, in an interview with Luchtvaartnieuws Magazine, expressed positive surprise at how rapidly this summer season has seen improvement within a few months.

“Our network has recovered considerably, and the occupancy rate of our cabins is also approaching normal levels.” He expects a further recovery to 95 per cent next winter, he said

De Nooijer expects the substantial recovery of normal capacity in the winter season, but more progress is needed.

“I do not foresee a full recovery until the second half of 2023. That is in despite of how badly it is needed, because of course we have taken a strong hit in the past year.  Last year we suffered a loss of €125 million euros, and we are not back into the black this year either,” he complained.

Getting back into the black is certainly needed to be able to invest, for example in fleet renewal. The Transavia CEO is optimistic that parent company Air France-KLM will make a decision this year on an order for the Boeing 737 MAX and/or Airbus A320neo for its low-cost unit.

Air France-KLM group chief executive Ben Smith told FlightGlobal that he believes the flexibility union agreements have given it to develop Transavia at Paris Orly provides the group with a tool to help offset the loss of slots at the airport.

Transavia, in the second  quarter of 2021,  showed an operating result which ended at  an  operational loss  of  €98 million, because of the ongoing travel restrictions in Europe and  North Africa. As the production levels in the second quarter of last year were close to zero due to  an almost full  production freeze, the  activity level in  the second quarter  2021 was around ten  times  higher than  last year. On  this increased capacity, the load factor lost 5.4 points compared with last year at  a level of 59.9 per cent. Total revenue increased  by 35.5 per cent  in the second quarter.