Prime Minister’s Request: Québec wants regional buyers for Air Transat

Originally, competitor Air Canada was worth 720 million Canadian dollars. But in the wake of the Corona crisis, the airline and travel company Transat AT agreed on a reduced purchase price of just $ 190 million. It is still unclear whether the travel company’s shareholders will accept the new deal.

Two-thirds of shareholders must approve the acquisition of Transat AT with their subsidiary Air Transat at the extraordinary general meeting in early December. Even if they get a lot less for their documents than originally intended, they don’t have much of a choice. For many industry observers it is unclear whether the Transat group will be able to survive independently for long in the face of the current crisis.

Help an investor

François Legault also knows. The prime minister of the Canadian province of Quebec is still trying to find another solution. He has a solution in mind for Quebec.

“It is unthinkable that the government alone runs an airline, that’s for sure,” he said recently at a news conference. But one could imagine supporting a provincial investor, the head of the government said. Prime Minister Legault’s interest is no coincidence. Prior to his political career, he was co-founder of Air Transat and also served as chairman of the board until 1997.

Model company in Québec

Additionally, Transat is considered to be one of the leading companies in the province, where differentiation from the rest of Canada is a constant problem. The choice isn’t great, of course. Potential Québec buyers, who showed interest last year, are now waving their hand or keeping quiet. The current situation is too uncertain.

Air Transat is the fourth largest Canadian airline after Air Canada, Jazz Aviation and Westjet Airlines and specializes in holiday flights. The fleet consists of 36 aircraft: seven Airbus A321s, six A321 LRs, 16 A330-200s, four A330-300s and three Boeing 737-800s. Air Transat also flies to Europe with the Airbus A321 LR.