Thomas Cook, Air Transat to exchange aircraft seasonally

Air Transat and Thomas Cook Airlines signed a 7-year agreement for the exchange of aircraft on a seasonal basis, which will enable the two carriers to manage their fleets more efficiently. The deal calls for Thomas Cook to make available a number of narrowbody Airbus A321s every winter to Air Transat, which will receive at least 1 widebody A330-200 in return. The agreement takes advantage of the different seasonality of the two companies: Air Transat uses a greater number of smaller aircraft in winter to serve its destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico and Florida, and larger aircraft in summer to serve the transatlantic market. In contrast, Thomas Cook uses smaller aircraft in summertime to fly to destinations around the Mediterranean Sea and larger widebody aircraft in the winter to fly to the long-haul destinations. <br/>