Air Transat announced the gradual resumption of its operations to seven cities in France from Montreal (YUL) and Quebec City (YQB), beginning with the reopening between YUL and Marseille (MRS) this April 8.
«We are very pleased to resume our flights to the regions of France. These routes, most of which we operate exclusively, have been an integral part of our flight schedule for many years,» said Joseph Adamo, Air Transat’s director of sales and marketing.
The province of Quebec, which makes up Montreal and Quebec City, has a large French diaspora dating back to the mid-19th century, with 78% of its population speaking French as their native language.
«The ties between Canada and France are invaluable and, as our global recovery accelerates, we look forward to meeting the significant latent demand. We know that, whether travelers are going on vacation or reuniting with loved ones, they really appreciate the ease of flying direct to their final destination, especially on our new-generation aircraft,» added Adamo.
With the above, Air Transat will resume operations in seven French cities from the province, which in addition to Marseille (MRS), include Bordeaux (BOD), Lyon (LYS), Nantes (NTE), Nice (NCE), Toulouse (TLS) and Paris/Charles de Gaulle (CDG). It also announced that Paris will be connected to Toronto/Pearson (YYZ).
Five connections will be operated by Airbus A321neo (LR) aircraft with a capacity for 199 passengers. Only flights from Montreal to Marseille, Paris and Lyon will be maintained with 332-passenger Airbus A330-200 aircraft; Nantes will be the only destination served with both Airbus models.
| Start | Routes | Frequencies | Airplane | Competition |
| May 2 | Montreal – Bordeaux | 4 weekly flights | A321neo (LR) | |
| April 28 | Montreal – Lyon | 4 weekly flights | A330-200 | Air Canada (5 weekly flights) |
| April 8 | Montreal – Marseille | 5 weekly flights | A330-200 | |
| May 2 | Montreal – Nantes | 3 weekly flights | A330-200/A321neo (LR) | |
| May 3 | Montreal – Nice | 2 weekly flights | A321neo (LR) | Air Canada (3 weekly flights) |
| Operating | Montreal – París | 14 weekly flights | A330-200 | Air Canada (14 weekly flights), Air France (28 weekly flights), Corsair (7 weekly flights) |
| May 1 | Montreal – Toulouse | 4 weekly flights | A321neo (LR) | |
| April 10 | Quebec City – París | 3 weekly flights | A321neo (LR) | Air France (3 weekly flights) |
| May 3 | Toronto – París | 4 weekly flights | A321neo (LR) | Air Canada (7 weekly flights), Air France (12 weekly flights) |
, including Bordeaux (BOD), Lyon (LYS), Nantes (NTE), Nice (NCE) and Toulouse (TLS).){kind=link}