Transavia plans Munich base

Air France-KLM subsidiary Transavia is to set up a base at Munich airport as part of plans to compete with budget rivals Ryanair, easyJet and the Lufthansa airline Eurowings.

Major airlines like Air France-KLM and Lufthansa are lining up to chase the market for point-to-point travel in Europe, which the low-cost carriers are making their own.

Transavia’s response will be to station four B737s and crew at Munich, offering 101 flights a week to 18 destinations from March. The plan pits the airline against Ryanair, which has plans to expand into Germany and possibly use Munich as well.

Transavia has hinted it has other plans in the pipeline and will announce further expansion for 2017 onwards early next year. It will operate 70 aircraft in 2016, with firm orders in place for 17 more and options for another three. 

The airline’s aggressive stance comes amid speculation that consolidation among smaller carriers in the market is being delayed because fuel is cheap at the moment.  

Transavia commercial director Roy Scheerder said the European airline sector needs to consolidate to become more profitable, as happened in the US, but lower costs were helping to keep some carriers in business that might otherwise have disappeared.   www.transavia.com

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