Air Transat cuts fiscal Q4 loss and ramps schedule

Transat AT, owner of Canadian leisure carrier Air Transat, says increased load factors helped reduce losses in the company’s fiscal fourth quarter, and that demand is set to rise as passenger confidence improves. The Montreal-based company says on 9 December that its loss for the fourth quarter, which ended on 31 October, fell by half, to C$121m (US$95m) from C$238m during the same period one year ago. For fiscal year 2021, the company lost C$390m, compared to C$497m in its FY2020. The company reported Q4 revenue of C$63m, more than double the C$28m it earned in Q4 2020. Transat has reduced monthly cash burn to C$15m. “Since we resumed operations on July 30, business has been growing steadily,” says CE Annick Guerard. “We met and exceeded our targets for resumption of operations in the last quarter, and reduced our use of cash. The winter season that is now beginning will see the continuation of our return to more-significant volumes. While we remain cautious given the evolving variants, we remain optimistic that we’re on track to returning to normal.” The company says it is continuing its fleet transformation and pursuing an alliance strategy after regulators in Europe nixed a potential merger with Canada’s heavyweight Air Canada in April. Last month, Air Transat said it would launch a code-share agreement with Calgary-based competitor WestJet for transatlantic travel. Pending regulatory approval, Air Transat flights to some cities in Europe will carry WestJet’s code, and some WestJet flights in North America will carry Transat’s, from early 2022. <br/>