Montreal/London, October 2, 2017 - Transat A.T. inc. and Thomas Cook Group Airlines are pleased to announce the signing of a seven-year agreement for the exchange of aircraft on a seasonal basis. Under the terms of the agreement, Thomas Cook will make available every winter to Air Transat a number of narrow body Airbus A321s and will receive at least one wide-body Airbus A330-200 in return. This will enable both companies to manage and utilise their fleets more efficiently.

The agreement takes advantage of the different seasonality of the two companies: Air Transat uses a greater number of smaller aircraft in winter to serve its destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico and Florida, and larger aircraft in summer to serve the transatlantic market. In contrast, Thomas Cook uses smaller aircraft in summertime to fly to destinations around the Mediterranean Sea and larger wide-body aircraft in the winter to fly to the long-haul destinations like Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

"This agreement marks a new step in the reconfiguration of our fleet," says Jean-Marc Eustache, President and Chief Executive Officer of Transat. "It allows us to improve our flexible-fleet model, making it even more efficient. Our fleet will eventually consist solely of Airbus A330 and aircraft from the A320 family, such as the A321, which will mean a more harmonized travel experience for our customers as well as lower operating costs,".

Christoph Debus, Chief Airline Officer, Thomas Cook Group, said: "The new partnership provides additional growth opportunities for our airline, and again demonstrates how Thomas Cook Group is transforming through partnerships. By taking advantage of the complementary seasonal demand in North America and Europe, we will be able to operate additional long-haul flights during winter and better balance the seasonal demand for our short and medium-haul aircraft, resulting in more cost efficiency and choice for our customers."

About Thomas Cook Group Airlines

The Thomas Cook Group Airlines as part of the Thomas Cook Group plc. consist of four sun and beach focused leisure airlines: Thomas Cook Airlines UK, Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium, Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia and Condor Flugdienst. The airlines carry 16.7m passengers per year to more than 160destinations, generating revenues of £2.8bn. The combined fleet consists of 94 aircraft of which there are 25 relatively new Airbus A321 that joined by 2016. The Thomas Cook Group recently invested £100 million in comfort and new technology of all aircraft. State-of-the-art engine technology and enhanced aerodynamics of the aircraft cut kerosene consumption thus reducing emissions and improving sound protection. More than 9,000 employees work passionately every day to satisfy the customer's needs. Numerous awards highlight this attitude in each of the single airlines.

About Transat

Transat A.T. Inc. is a leading integrated international tourism company specializing in holiday travel and active in air transportation, accommodation, travel packaging and distribution. It operates mainly in Canada, Europe, Mexico and the Caribbean, with some 25 destination countries, and distributes products in over 50 countries. Based in Montreal, the company has 5,000 employees. Transat is firmly committed to sustainable tourism development, as reflected in its multiple corporate responsibility initiatives over the past 10 years, and was awarded Travelife Partner status in 2016. The vacation travel companion par excellence, Transat celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2017 (TSX: TRZ).

About Air Transat

Air Transat, a business unit of Transat A.T. Inc., is Canada's number one holiday travel airline in the Canadian and transatlantic markets. It also offers domestic and feeder flights out of five Canadian airports. Every year, it carries nearly 4.5 million passengers to approximately 60 destinations in some 25 countries. Based in Montreal, the company employs 3,000 people and operates a fleet of Boeing narrow-body and Airbus wide-body jets.

Media:

Transat A.T. Inc.

Christophe Hennebelle

Vice-President, Human Resources and Corporate Affairs

christophe.hennebelle@transat.com

+1 514 987-1660, ext. 4584

Thomas Cook Group Airlines

Johannes Winter

Head of Communications

kommunikation@condor.com

+49 6107 939 7804

Thomas Cook Group plc published this content on 02 October 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 02 October 2017 12:24:02 UTC.

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