Air France–KLM CFO Pierre-Francois Riolacc has stated on an earnings call that Transavia’s Munich base is developing according to plan despite attempts by Lufthansa to boost its offering from the airport.
“We are satisfied with our Munich operation. We are on track on the business plan,” he said despite the “limited reaction” from its competitors, adding that he does not see “any stronger reaction than what we could have expected.”
Under its agreement with its pilots, Lufthansa’s Eurowings is not allowed to fly on Munich, only Lufthansa aircraft can use the facility. This is the prime reason Transavia has sought to capitalize on the new base and which is also why, as Riolacc states, Lufthansa’s “retaliation capacity is acceptable”.
Transavia’s Munich base supports two 737-800s, which fly on nine routes, with a Munich-Berlin route being added from the end of this month.
Transavia’s systemwide passenger traffic grew by 14.3% to 1.9 million passengers in the first quarter; measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) it was up by 8.2% on an 8.4% increase in available seat-kilometers (ASK). Transavia revenue fell by 0.7%, but revenue in ASKs was down 4.4% at constant currency.