Transavia

Transavia Airlines C.V., trading as Transavia and formerly branded as transavia.com, is a Dutch low-cost airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of KLM and therefore part of the Air France–KLM group. Its main base is Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and it has other bases at Rotterdam The Hague Airport and Eindhoven Airport. Transavia maintains Transavia France as its French subsidiary.

This article is about the Dutch airline. For the Australian aircraft manufacturer, see Transavia Corporation.
Not to be confused with TransAsia Airways or TransAVIAexport Airlines.
Transavia
IATA ICAO Callsign
HV TRA TRANSAVIA
Commenced operations17 November 1966 (1966-11-17)
Operating bases
Frequent-flyer programFlying Blue
SubsidiariesTransavia France
Fleet size44
Destinations124
Parent companyKLM
HeadquartersHaarlemmermeer, Netherlands
RevenueIncrease €1.744 billion (2019)[1]
Operating incomeDecrease €131 million (2019)[1]
Websitewww.transavia.com

History
Transavia Sud Caravelle at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport in June 1972
Transavia Airbus A300 in 1976
Transavia Boeing 757-200 in 2001

Early years

The first brainstorming sessions about starting a second charter company in the Netherlands, after Martinair, started in spring 1966, when the American Chalmers Goodlin met with captain Pete Holmes. "Slick" Goodlin had recently bought the dormant small company Transavia Limburg, based in Maastricht, which had three DC-6's available. The Dutch government needed to be approached in order to obtain an operating license for the airline, both in order to be allowed to operate out of Amsterdam Airport, and for these DC-6s.

At that stage John Block, a former member of the Martinair Holland management, was willing to take that on. He succeeded, the license was issued on 14 November 1966 and two days later on 16 November 1966 the airline's first commercial flight – Amsterdam/Naples/Amsterdam – was completed; flown by Captain Pete Holmes, on board were the Dutch Ballet Orchestra and the Dutch Dance Theatre. This was the first flight with the new name of Transavia Holland.

The company found offices at the old Schiphol Airport, Hangar 7 and the fledgling's financier Slick Goodlin appointed the three-pronged management: Commercial Director J.N. Block, Director Operations H.G. Holmes, and Technical Director Kees de Blok. Some of the first employees were pilots John Schurman (Canadian), Hans Steinbacher & Pim Sierks (Dutch), Chief Stewardess Willy Holmes-Spoelder and her stewardesses: Senior Stewardess Wil Dammers and six carefully selected and trained young women.

The first of fourteen secondhand Sud Caravelle twin-jet airliners to be operated by Transavia was delivered in summer 1969 and the type remained in service with the airline until being replaced by further deliveries of Boeing 737s in 1976.

Development since the 1980s

Building up the airline from scratch, ten years later Transavia had a marketshare of 45% of the Dutch holiday market and became the main competitor of Martinair. In 1986, the Transavia Holland brand was changed into Transavia Airlines. It was the first airline to take advantage of the first open skies agreement signed between the UK and Dutch governments. Transavia started operating its first scheduled service on the Amsterdam to London Gatwick route on 26 October 1986.

During 1991, the airline's major shareholder, Nedlloyd, sold its 80% holding to KLM. In 1998, Transavia was the first foreign airline to operate domestic services in Greece following a change in Greek aviation law. In June 2003, KLM acquired the remaining 20% of Transavia, making it 100% KLM owned. The subsequent merger of Air France and KLM made Transavia a wholly owned subsidiary of Air France-KLM.

In the early 2000s, Transavia was primarily a charter airline with a low-cost airline subsidiary called Basiq Air. To strengthen its brand image, the two were combined under the transavia.com domain name on 1 January 2005.

Transavia has a French unit, Transavia France, based at Paris-Orly, which also operates 737-800s. A Danish unit, Transavia Denmark, based at Copenhagen, operated from 2008 until April 2011 when it was shut down after failing to meet expectations.

A strike was organised by Air France pilots in September 2014, in protest against the Air France-KLM group's increased focus on the development of Transavia, whose pilots were being paid less than those of Air France.[2]

By early 2015, Transavia received a new corporate design dropping the ".com" from its public appearance and changed its primary colors from white/green/blue to white/green.[3] The airline is now to be positioned as Air France-KLM's low-cost brand for the Netherlands and France.[4]

In February 2017, Transavia announced that it would shut down its base at Munich Airport by late October 2017 after only a year of service due to a change in their business strategy and negative economic outlook.[5]

In December 2019, Transavia announced the launch of its base at Brussels Airport, initially operating nine routes from the airport.[6]

In December 2021, after a delay due to the coronavirus, the base at Brussels Airport was opened. Transavia will station one aircraft at the Belgian airport.[7]

Corporate affairs

The financials for both parts of the Transavia brand (Transavia Netherlands and Transavia France) are fully incorporated in the published annual accounts of their ultimate parent, Air France-KLM. Results reported for the Transavia brand are (figures for financial years ending 31 December):[8]

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Turnover ("passenger revenues") (€m)[9] 889 984 1,056 1,100 1,218 1,436 1,611 1,744 606 1,012 2,219
Operating profit/loss (€m) −5 −1 −23 −36 −35 0 81 139 131 −299 −149 −104
Number of passengers (m)[10] 6.3 7.6 8.9 9.9 10.8 13.2 14.8 15.8 16.6 5.2 8.8
Passenger load factor (%)[11] 86.5 88.6 90.1 89.8 89.9 89.2 90.6 92.0 92.2 73.8 74.7
Number of aircraft (Transavia) 30 31 30 31 32 37 39 40 42 40 39 39
Number of aircraft (Transavia France) 8 8 11 14 21 26 29 34 38 40 54 60
Number of aircraft (total) (at year end) 38 39 41 45 53 63 73 74 80 80 93 99
Notes/sources [12][13] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23]

In 2013 and 2015 Transavia had 2,050 and 2,400 employees respectively.[14][16]

Head office
The TransPort Building houses the head offices of Transavia and Martinair.
Logo during the Transavia Airlines branding
Logo during the transavia.com branding

Transavia has its head office in the TransPort Building, Schiphol East,[24] on the grounds of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands.[25] Transavia moved into the new building on 3 May 2010 with about 400 employees.[26] Previously the head office was in the Building Triport III at Schiphol Airport.[27][28][29]

Ownership and structure

Transavia Airlines C.V. is 100% owned by KLM, which in turn is owned by Air France–KLM; however, Transavia is run as an independent operation. It holds a 4.49% interest in the French airline Transavia France S.A.S (the remaining 95.51% is owned by Air France S.A.), which operates in the French market. Transavia France also operates under the brand name of Transavia, with an identical business model, website, and image.[30]

Business model

Transavia operates as a low-cost carrier, and as such uses a single aircraft type (Boeing 737 in their case) with a single class of cabin. The airline offers the "Selection on Board" buy on board service offering food and drinks for purchase.[31] Commencing 5 April 2011, Transavia introduced fees for hold luggage and changed the rules for hand luggage, with the maximum allowable weight for hand luggage increased from 5 kg to 10 kg.[32]

Destinations
Main article: List of Transavia destinations
Countries in which Transavia operates as of October 2023[33][34][35]

Codeshare agreements

Transavia has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[36]

Fleet
Transavia Boeing 737-700 wearing the former livery
Transavia Boeing 737-800 wearing the current livery

Current fleet

As of June 2023, Transavia (excluding Transavia France) operates the following registered aircraft:[38][39]

Transavia Netherlands fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
Airbus A320neo — 100 TBA Order to be shared between KLM and Transavia.[40]
Order with 60 options.[40][41]
Deliveries planned to start from mid 2023.. First aircraft has reg. PH-YHZ (msn 11702).
Airbus A321neo 232[39]
Boeing 737-700 4 — 149 To be retired and replaced by Airbus A320neo family.
Boeing 737-800 40 — 189
Total 44 100

During the busy summer season, Transavia regularly leases additional 737 aircraft from Sun Country Airlines, a US airline based in Eagan, Minnesota. During the slower winter season, which corresponds to Sun Country's busy season, Sun Country leases several planes from Transavia. This reciprocal arrangement allows both airlines to balance their fleets to reflect seasonal demand.[42][43] Transavia also leases services from different charter airlines during the peak summer season to operate flights on their behalf.

Historical fleet

Over the years, Transavia has operated the following aircraft types in its mainline fleet:

Transavia historical fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired
Airbus A300 1 1976 1977
Airbus A310 1 1998 1999
Airbus A320 4 2013 2015
Boeing 737-200 21 1974 1995
Boeing 737-300 16 1986 2002
Boeing 737-400 1 1997 1997
Boeing 757-200 8 1992 2004
Boeing 757-300 2 2003 2003
BAe 146-200 1 1997 1997
Sud Aviation Caravelle[44] 15 1969 1976

Additional aircraft types were part of the fleet in small numbers and only for short-term periods.

Accidents and incidents

No fatalities or complete loss of aircraft have occurred on Transavia flights. In 1997 two incidents occurred with substantial damage to the aircraft:

  • On 24 December 1997, Transavia Airlines Flight 462, a Boeing 757-200 flying from Gran Canaria to Amsterdam, was seriously damaged during landing. The aircraft landed in strong, gusty winds and touched down hard with its right main gear first. On touchdown the nose gear doghouse collapsed, inflicting serious damage on some electrical and electronic systems and control cables. After sliding over the runway for approximately 3 km, the aircraft came to rest in the grass beside the runway. The plane was evacuated successfully, and no fatalities or serious injuries occurred.[46] The aircraft returned to service after repairs.
  • On 6 September 2019, Transavia Airlines Flight 1041 attempted to take off from Taxiway D instead of Runway 18C at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Airtraffic controllers ordered the aircraft to stop immediately. No injuries were reported.[47]

See also

References
  1. "Full Year 2019 Press Release" (PDF). Air France-KLM. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  2. "Air France strike to continue another week". The Local: France. 19 September 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  3. Dorien Vrieling (10 March 2015). "[Designpanel] Rebranding Transavia". MarketingTribune.
  4. "Annual Financial Report 2014" (PDF). Air France-KLM. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  5. aero.de - "Transavia dissolves base in Munich" (German) 13 February 2017
  6. Liu, Jim (4 December 2019). "Transavia launches Brussels base in S20". routesonline.com.
  7. "Transavia officially announces base in Brussels - Aviation.Direct". 21 December 2021.
  8. "Annual and semi-annual documents | AIR FRANCE KLM". www.airfranceklm.com. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
  9. "Transavia annual passenger revenues 2011-2021". Statista. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
  10. "Number of passengers carried by Transavia 2014-2021". Statista. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
  11. "Passenger load factor of Transavia between 2011 and 2021". Statista. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
  12. "Financial Year 2011 - press release" (PDF). Air France-KLM. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  13. "Registration Document 2012" (PDF). AirFranceKLM. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  14. "Registration Document 2013 including the annual financial report" (PDF). Air France-KLM. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  15. "AirfranceKLM Registration Document 2014 including the Annual Financial Report" (PDF). AirfranceKLM. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  16. "AirfranceKLM Registration Document 2015 including the Annual Financial Report" (PDF). Air France-KLM. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  17. "AirfranceKLM Registration Document 2016 including the Annual Financial Report" (PDF). AirfranceKLM. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  18. "AirfranceKLM Registration Document 2017 including the Annual Financial Report" (PDF). AirfranceKLM. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  19. "AirfranceKLM Registration Document 2018 including the Annual Financial Report" (PDF). Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  20. "AirfranceKLM Registration Document 2019 including the Annual Financial Report" (PDF). AirfranceKLM. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  21. "AirfranceKLM Registration Document 2020 including the Annual Financial Report" (PDF). AirfranceKLM. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  22. "AirfranceKLM Registration Document 2021 including the Annual Financial Report" (PDF). AirfranceKLM. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  23. "AirfranceKLM Registration Document 2022 including the Annual Financial Report" (PDF). AirfranceKLM. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  24. " New visiting address Martinair Headquarters." Martinair. Retrieved on 16 February 2011. "Martinair’s head office will relocate to the new TransPort building at Schiphol East on Friday, June 4, 2010." and "Visiting address Martinair Holland N.V. Piet Guilonardweg 17 1117 EE Schiphol"
  25. "Visiting address and directions." Transavia.com. Retrieved on 7 February 2011. "Piet Guilonardweg 15: TransPort Building 1117 EE Schiphol Airport PO Box 7777, 1118 ZM Schiphol Airport (NL)."
  26. "Proud of our new energy-saving head office." Public Report 2009/2010 Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine. Transavia.com. 8 (8/13). Retrieved on 16 February 2011.
  27. "STCC TRANSAVIA." TUIfly. Retrieved on 16 February 2011. "transavia.com Westelijke Randweg 3, building Triport III 1118 CR Schiphol Airport"
  28. "General Conditions of Passage Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine." Transavia.com. 28/28 Retrieved on 16 February 2011. "Address for visitors: transavia.com Westelijke Randweg 3, building Triport III 1118 CR Schiphol Airport"
  29. "Annual Report 2004/2005." Transavia.com. 28/28. Retrieved on 16 February 2011. "transavia.com Westelijke Randweg 3 P.O. Box 7777 1118 ZM Schiphol Centrum The Netherlands"
  30. "Organization". Transavia. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  31. "Selection on board." transavia.com. Retrieved on 16 February 2011.
  32. "Why is transavia.com changing its luggage policy?" (PDF). Transavia.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
  33. "Transavia Online Booking". Transavia. 26 October 2023.
  34. "Route map Transavia (TO)". Flightconnections. 26 October 2023.
  35. "Route map Transavia (HV)". Flightconnections. 26 October 2023.
  36. "Our Partners". Transavia. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  37. Egerton, Debbie (March 2, 2016). "Delta agreement with Transavia opens new destinations" (Press release). Delta Air Lines. Archived from the original on July 21, 2019. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  38. "Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One)". Airliner World (October 2019): 22.
  39. "Transavia Fleet Details and History". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  40. "KLM Group chooses Airbus A320neo family for KLM and Transavia's European fleet". KLM Group (Press release). 16 December 2021.
  41. "Transavia verduurzaamt komende jaren vloot met Airbus vliegtuigen". Transavia (Press release) (in Dutch). 16 December 2021.
  42. "Transavia Airlines PH-HZG (Boeing 737 NG / Max - MSN 28379) | Airfleets aviation".
  43. "The Story of Two Northern Suns: Sunwing and Sun Country – AirlineGeeks.com".
  44. http://www.rzjets.net/aircraft/?parentid=1302&typeid=1&frstatus=3
  45. Incident details from Aviation Safety.net website, visited 22 June 2008.
  46. Incident details from Aviation Safety.net website, visited 13 March 2021.
  47. "Serious incident Boeing 737-8K2 (WL) PH-HSJ, 06 Sep 2019". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 23 March 2023.

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