Five years after the euphoric installation of Transavia on the Montpellier-Fréjorgues airport platform, after the pandemic downturn, the Air-France-KLM subsidiary is strengthening its base in Hérault with three new destinations served: Istanbul (Turkey) Rabat (Morocco) and Oran (Algeria). Montpellier has become the group’s platform for the Mediterranean market with now 14 destinations served in nine countries.
“This summer, from Montpellier, we are offering 20,000 additional seats and we are aiming for an 80% occupancy rate. We are already seeing strong demand for Istanbul (twice a week) », explains Nicolas Hénin, deputy general manager of Transavia, which transported 284,000 passengers from Montpellier in 2023 (71% occupancy) and wants to reach the mark of 340,000 tickets in 2024. The low-cost company and Montpellier airport have also on the development of the Montpellier-Paris-Orly line, which lost passengers in 2023 to the benefit of the TGV.
“The commissioning of line 14 of the Paris metro from Orly will change the situation with the possibility of reaching the center of the capital in just 20 minutes and for 11.50 euros, Transavia prices being much lower those of the TGV. We are back in the race,” assures Emmanuel Brehmer, the airport director. Transavia, which is also launching a Toulouse-Dubai service twice a week this week, is also already thinking about new services for this winter.