Air France-KLM’s Transavia scraps 210 flights over jet shortage

Air-France KLM’s Transavia unit is scrapping 210 flights this summer as a shortage of planes limits passenger capacity during the peak travel season.

The low-cost airline was waiting to lease Boeing Co. 737 aircraft that were previously operated by Blue Air, a bankrupt Romanian airline, but late delivery and paperwork issues meant the planes couldn’t be deployed, the Dutch news agency ANP reported.

The lack of aircraft dents Transavia’s capacity in through July and August, the peak of the European summer travel season. Plane shortages will also hit the airline in June, forcing it to cancel more than 330 flights, Aviation 24 reported previously.

Discount carriers including Ryanair and EasyJet have seen a surge in demand this summer as people travel more post-pandemic. However, issues ranging from delivery delays of new aircraft to engine availability has kept many airlines from fielding a fleet as large as they originally planned.  

The flights were eliminated to create “full certainty” for the high season, said Leon Bogaard, a Transavia spokesman. “This was our final adjustment to our flight schedule.”

Bogaard declined to comment on reasons for the plane shortages. The carrier said it has transferred nearly all passengers with canceled flights onto other Transavia flights.