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| Air Transat sees "very good" booking numbers for Toronto - Zagreb service |
Air Transat is gearing up to launch seasonal flights between Toronto and Zagreb on June 14, with the Canadian carrier satisfied with its sales on the route so far. While the service is primarily targeted at Canadian holidaymakers, Debbie Cabana, Air Transat's Marketing Director, tells EX-YU Aviation News that the flights have generated significant interest from the Croatian diaspora. "There is a high level of interest and booking numbers are very good. There is a big Croatian community in Toronto and we can feel the interest from Croatian travellers from both sides (Europe and Canada)", Ms Cabana says. Air Transat is Canada’s leading leisure airline and will operate flights to the Croatian capital with a 345-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft, once per week, until October 4.
Despite strong sales, Air Transat has no plans to extend the service past the summer season. "Based on our seasonality and aircraft availability, this is not in our short term plans", Ms Cabana notes . Dan Prior, Air Transat’s Sales Manager for Ontario and Atlantic Canada, recently noted, “Our expertise in European travel has once again led us to develop new markets: we’re building on the success of our Prague and Budapest routes by introducing Croatia to our customers this year. We’ve seen [Croatia] as an up-and-coming destination over the past five years”. Nicole Bursey, Air Transat's Commercial Director, added, “For Europe, Croatia has value. It still has a lot of well-priced, quality accommodation and it’s beautiful". The service has been scheduled so as to offer connector flights to and from Montreal as well.
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| Economy class cabin on Air Transat's A330-200 |
Air Transat faces no direct competition on the route. Last year, Star Alliance partners Croatia Airlines and Air Canada expanded their codeshare partnership. The Croatian carrier placed its flight numbers and designator code onto a handful of Air Canada services including those from Toronto to Amsterdam, Copenhagen, London Heathrow, Paris and Zurich; from Montreal to Brussels, London Heathrow and Paris, as well as from Calgary, Halifax and Vancouver to London (and vice versa). In return, Air Canada placed its “AC” designator code and flight numbers onto Croatia Airlines’ services from Zagreb to Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, London Heathrow, Paris and Zurich. Furthermore, Air Canada codes appear on the Croatian carrier’s flights from Dubrovnik to Paris and Rome and from Split to London, Paris, Rome and Zurich. Air Transat's A330-200 jet, which will be used on services to Zagreb, features a two cabin layout, with twelve seats in business class (Club Class) and a further 333 in economy featuring personal entertainment systems with a selection of movies, TV programs and music, as well as in-built USB ports.
Nice. Pity they won't kep it during the winter too. I think it could work.
ReplyDeleteFlights to Canada & US are very seasonal from this part of the world. You will get tourists and diaspora flying during the summer and you might get some diaspora during Christmas & New Year, which isn't enough, unless you have transfer passengers heading elsewhere, which these flights don't.
DeleteWill they only fly June to Sept? They should at least do April-Oct meaning full 6 months of operation.
DeleteI'm really glad that these flights will be operated by a respectable airline and not like Sky Greece last year. Has anyone booked a ticket with them? What is Air Transat like? Cabin looks good.
ReplyDeleteI travelled with them numerous times to Europe and Caribbean. Service was in my opinion very good. They’ve been voted as the best leisure airlines several times. They recently updated long haul interiors and installed IFE in every seat. One thing I liked about them is that if there is seats available for the front of the cabin at boarding, they’ll upgrade you for just a couple of hundreds.
DeleteJa mislim da nisam u životu letio gorom kompanijom. Ne može čovjek da se uvuče u sjedalo koliko je usko i malo a hrana je užasna. Od Rima do Toronta skoro 10 sati sa porcijom jeftinih makarona umrljanih u paradajz sos. Druga stvar je da su imali dosta tehničkih incidenata pošto su mehaničari popravljali avione sa ne adekvatnim djelovima te im je Transport Canada stalno za petama. Da im prodaja ide dobro ne bi karte snizili na 359+ poreze. Ista stvar je bila i sa Bečom,Istambulom, Minhenom, Frankfurtom i još nekim destinacija na koje su morali otkazati a falili se kako je odlična prodaja. Jadan onaj ko mora da se gura u njihovim avionima kao sardine u konzervi.
DeleteWhat do you mean front of the cabin? I thought they have only economy class throught the plane.
DeleteRead the last sentence in the article :)
Deletetouché
DeleteAnon 2:51,
DeleteThey do have "bussines" cabin on their long haul flights. I wouldn't call it true business class but it's better than economy for sure. Wider, better seats, more legroom, better food. The price of it I found interesting. Every time i looked through their site it was about 50-60% more than economy which I find very competitive for someone who wants little more space.
@ Nenad
As I said, I used them several times and experience was OK. I do agree about hte leg room but these days this is nothing unusual. I find Rouge to be even worst. Last time I went to Balkans we flew OS via VIE and I didn't find it legroom to be much different.
Air Transat ads say "Europe for everyone". Long haul LCCs and charters have to pack 9 across in A330 and A310 to be cheap enough "for everyone". If you can afford it, there is premium seating available with pricing in line with most other premium economy offers. This cabin is the future of long haul from Eastern Europe to North America.
DeleteSince everybody is talking about leg room, the most comfortable trip I had in terms of that component was with Jet Airways A330 routing YYZ-BRU and back. AF also has decent leg room on their B747. The worst one was with Lot Polish B787.
DeleteBy looking at the JU A330 seat map, it seems that leg room component will stay the same since they are leasing the plane from Jet Airways. The only thing I found weird was that in C there will be 1-1-1 seating which is great for pax, but I am pretty sure that Jet and Etihad (plus most other companies) have 1-2-1 seating in their A330.
Air Transat is a great choice for hops to Caribbean and so forth, but I would rather not fly with them to Europe. It is also not true that Air Transat is low cost since many times there are cheaper options
DeleteThey may well be low cost, but what I think you mean to say, is that they may not be a 'low fare' airline
Deleteyea exactly, thanks for clarification anon 6:36. Same thing goes with FZ who is more expansive than QR, TK and EY on many occasions.
DeleteGreat news. Can't wait to see them at ZAG :)
ReplyDeleteThey could have tried at least 2 p/w. I'm sure there would be enough passengers.
ReplyDeleteI guess twice weekly services will start next year, in 2017. This year is a kind of trial for the airline to see the market response and seasonality.
ReplyDeleteGood news for Zagreb! Would DBV work as well? Is there a competition on DBV route?
ReplyDeleteI think BEG could also work as seasonal.
I wonder if their fleet is fully utilised for Caribbean routes in the winter.
Meni zvuci da je njihov avion napakovan kao sardina - skoro 100 sedista vise nego u konfiguraciji Air Serbia
ReplyDeleteFrom 2017 they should have 2 flights per week and in winter 1 flight per week via PRG, VCE, FCO, BUD or ATH (which are also seasonal).
ReplyDeleteSlightly OT: last Wednesday I flew OU on the LHR-ZAG route. The flight was 100% full, not a single seat was available on A319. Impressive load.
ReplyDeleteIn-flight experience was OK. Seat pitch regular, crew good and experienced. The snack OU serves is in fact a good one for this type of meal (cheese in olive oil with some nice crackers). They also allowed a LOT of luggage into the cabin and in the check in counter they took my bag without remarks even though it was 3kg over their limit.
The only thing that was not as pleasant were seats - for some reason they felt rock hard and by the landing time I started feeling pain in my back. Not that it matters too much but I hope their new birds will have some comfy seats.
All put together, a fair and decent experience.
"cheese in olive oil with some nice crackers"
DeleteThis is hardly a good meal on a 3h flight.
"The only thing that was not as pleasant were seats - for some reason they felt rock hard and by the landing time I started feeling pain in my back. Not that it matters too much but I hope their new birds will have some comfy seats."
These are typical slimline Recaro seats also used by the LH Group and are here to stay. Very uncomfortable and especially insulting in Business Class.
OU has very good crews (IME anyway), but the hard product is average at best.
I travelled to Rome from Dubrovnik 2 weeks ago, an hour and 20 minutes flight to Fiumicino, the plane 70% full, great crew, some dry crackers with garlic and thyme, free drinks.
DeleteLHR flight is not 3 hours but 2:30 hours
Delete@last anon
DeleteThat doesn't change the argument in the slightest.
+1
DeleteI said the snack was good for this type of meal - meaning the snack meal. Of course a hot meal served by TK or JU would be better but if had to be snack then I say it was a good snack. Some snacks I've been served on LH/OS flights could not be described by words other than 'insult'. Swiss was slightly better but OU is more inventive than the entire Lufty group IMO.
DeleteOne more nice detail - very good inflight magazine.
Thanks ex YU for checking this. Really appreciate how you follow up and contact the airlines for information to share with us.
ReplyDeleteOT: we got 2 SN A333 to ZRH this morning. BRU airport remains probably closed throughout Friday. Currently we re checking on switching long haul ops to ZRH. 8 flights could arrive tmrw in ZRH.
some A319 320 flts arne operating out of LGG
Some Jumbolinos out of Antwerpen
Are you working for SRT?
DeleteNope for GSA of SN Cargo
Delete3 A330 in ZRH, 3 out of FRA. I know that one out of FRA will go to JFK. Rest still open
How come they have 345 pax on an A332 and a 3-3-3 layout, is there any other airline that has this?
ReplyDeleteThey have 333 and the standard 2 class layout is 335. The maximum possible for the 333 is 440 passengers.
DeleteWell so Ex-Yu wrongly reported that it's an A332.
DeleteOMG Ex-Yu is right, they do have 345 seats on their A332, the seating must be hell for such a long flight! 9 abreast on A330 while it can feel tight even in 777.
DeleteIt is an A330-200, it is 345 seats and it is hell.
DeleteSo when someone told Zagreb should attract a budget airline i think this time they really got it.
Deletehttp://www.airlinequality.com/seat-reviews/air-transat/
DeleteAnon 1:23PM you are so-so right!!!OMG I want to forget my last year trip from athens,it was the most awful economy cabin i have ever flown,never again!!!
DeleteAny chance of Air Canada starting YYZ-ZAG?
ReplyDeleteNo chance. Their subsidiary Rouge could on the other hand but I think with TS there already, that ship has sailed.
DeleteNo chance. Their subsidiary Rouge could on the other hand but I think with TS there already, that ship has sailed.
DeleteWhat are the fares like return YYZ-ZAG?
ReplyDeleteI checked ealrlier today. I was looking at departing on Jul 19 to Aug 17. Total fare in CAD was 1082 return. All taxes included
DeleteOdlicne vesti za Hrvatcki Turizam ali ne treba ni da cudi sto su letovi tako dobro popunjeni kad se leti samo 1 pw. Bice zanimljivo dali ce i sledece godine da lete ako drugi Igraci iz Regiona uspostave vise letova .
ReplyDeleteINN-NS
Air Transat recently opened their regional office in Belgrade so we might see them fly here next year.
ReplyDeleteNe verujem jer će i Air Serbia do tad početi da leti istu rutu
DeleteAdmin, did Air Transat mention possible YYZ-BEG for 2017 during the interview? Thank you!
DeleteYou would have read it as the main article, if they had mentioned it!
DeleteAre you sure? I can't find their Belgrade office address or phone.
DeleteMališa ne kaže se Hrvatcki nego Hrvatski.
DeletePa ne baš. Piše se hrvatski, a ne Hrvatski.
DeleteAir Transat did not open regional office in Belgrade. They have selected GSA for the Balkans which is in Belgrade.
DeleteWhat is GSA?
DeleteThis is good news for Zagreb and Croatia. Having said, even tour operators like Thomas Cook or Thomson do not pack that many people on a plane. On the other hand, it seems that A332 is certified to 375 or possibly 406 (with an additional door).
ReplyDeleteOther charters and LCCs also cram a lot of people. Thomson, Thomas Cook and many others have 8 across in a 767, and several others have 9 across in A330. You can't put 10 across in 787 and 9 across is painful enough.
DeleteNot quite.
DeleteThomas Cook (A332): 273 (econ) + 49 premium econ
As per SeatGuru
You do realize Thomas Cook economy seat count is higher than all of seats on Air Serbia eco+biz class config for the identical airplane. And then you add 49 more premium seats, lolz
DeleteI do, but comparison was with Transat. Sorry, not everything revolves around Air Serbia.
DeleteThomas Cook A332: 322 passengers
DeleteAir Transat A332: 345 passengers
only 6% less passengers, quite similar
Well,since you asked for it. To be exact, it's 6.7% less or 7.1% more, depending on view point. Either way, in the industry with a combined profit margin of 4.6% in 2015 (with low oil price) that is miles apart.
DeleteWhile "miles apart", they are similar compared to upcoming (wait for it...) BEG-YYZ service on Air Serbia A332 with 256 passengers or 25,8% less than Air Transat A332.
DeleteCharter/LCC to another Charter/LCC: 7% difference. Charter/LCC to Legacy difference: 25%. Miles apart by any measure.
"Jedna od ME3 će od 09/2016 uvesti direktne letove za DBV. Pouzdan info iz samog airlinea."
ReplyDeleteQatar Airways
DeleteOdlican odgovor od strane QR na potez TK.
DeleteAli to umanjuje sad sanse da ZAG dobije B788 ili A330.
INN-NS
What how Qatar to DBV possible?
DeleteI would maybe understand during the summer, but starting in September makes it so hard for me to believe.
Yet on the other hand Purger is almost always right with information.
A zato SPU samo ceka... Izgradnja terminala se samo odgada, nude kaos i frustraciju putnicima u pretrpanom terminalcicu, a brojke misle povecati s ogromnim brojakama u ljetnim mjesecima. Strasno me zaloste ove ovoliko malo putnika izvan sezone.
DeleteExcellent news for Dubrovnik, and Zagreb will be getting a wide body aircraft on Qatar flight to Doha, just be patient ;)
DeleteImas jako los izvor za ovo, Purgeru....tko god ti je rekao QR i DBV u SEP nema neke veze o planovima QR iskreno da ti kazem...a ti vjeruj ili ne, naravno.
DeleteAjdete ljudi ohladite, svi nesto znate a nista ne znate. Samo nagađanja.
DeleteOvo za Qatar nisam bio ja, nego je netko zlorabio moj nick. Iako sam i ja dobio informaciju iz dva izvora da je Qatar. No, ne mogu reči da je potvrđena informacija.
Delete@Purger
DeleteZašto ne ostavljaš komentare dok si ulogiran google računom? Ovako se bilo tko može predstavljati kao ti. To vrijedi i za sve ostale koji pridonose raspravi.
Ići će Qatar 3-4 puta zimi iz DBV.
ReplyDeleteHoce, hoce...i to bas zimi...
DeleteE jado ljubomorni...
DeleteMa kakva ljubomora nego je besmisleno. Da idu, pa naravno da bi krenuli ljeti a ne gadjali zimu.
DeleteEto, da i ja kazem...AA SPU LAX u SPU 3-4 x zimi. Ima li ljubomore?
Qatar ne otvara sezonske linije. Dakle kad pokrenu liniju onda je drže cijele godine.
DeleteStoga im je svejedno kreću li na jesen ili proljeće. Pa i SKP kreću uslijed zime. Uostalom svi smo svjedoci kako je Qatar forcao linije koje su imale samo 20-30 putnika. Mogu si oni to priuštiti da se ni ne osvrnu.
Today both TK flights to ZAG and LH from FRA with A321 + in the evening QB charter from Teheran...
ReplyDeleteZagreb rocks!
DeleteSure it does.
Deletehttp://www.zagreb-airport.hr/web-kamera
Anonymous 7:07 PM, you couldn't say something nice, could you? And yes, Zagreb rocks!
DeleteDoes it? Does it really? It's just another Balkan provincial airport like SOF, BEG or SKP.
DeleteLOL! :D
DeleteJU235 from Zagreb tonight flying via Banka Luka.
DeleteIt really does, Anonymous 7:29! Love ya, bro!
Deletexoxo from Croatia ;)
ATH too!
DeleteToday in BEG:
Deletehttp://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/6/6/1/2716166.jpg
@ AnonymousMarch 24, 2016 at 7:32 PM
Deletehttp://www.rtvbn.com/379565/Banjaluka-Pukla-guma-na-avionu-Air-Serbia
Wow must have been a light load on both flights if they could get both cities into an Atr.
DeleteBravo Hrvatska!
ReplyDeletetu si, ja se vec zapitah
DeleteKreten bio, kreten ostao.
DeleteThis reminds me of the JU statement on their JFK flights... sale is going great, we are happy with it but no further info.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Air_Transat/Air_Transat_Airbus_A330-200_V2.php
ReplyDeleteBit belated, non the less, Croatia had brilliant 2015, tourist numbers were up by 8.6% and overnight up by 8.1%, with 14.15 million visitors and 78.9 million nights. Zagreb had 1.020 million foreign visitors who generated 1.775 million nights. Overall Croatia had revenue of around 8.0 billion eruos from tourism in 2015.
ReplyDeleteThis year Zagreb is expected to hit 1.15 million visitors with 2.0 million nights, Croatia is expected to hit 15.0 million visitors and 85 million nights.
+1
DeleteGo Croatia!
I don't think they can hit their target, except Zagreb. Croatia's visitors increased last year mainly due to the extended season on the shoulders. Coastal cities do not have enough bed capacity, they were already full during the season last year. Considering the latest terror attacks in Europe, I would say any additional growth would be success.
ReplyDelete