Transavia officially announced on Tuesday 13 February that it would be closing its base at Munich from next winter. Munich was the Europe's first base outside France and the Netherlands - its two home markets - for the low-cost airline, which announced in 2015 that it wanted to conquer Europe like Easyjet or Vueling.
Arrived in November 2015 with two Boeing 737 aircraft in Munich, in spring 2016 the low-cost carrier increased its fleet to four aircraft, offering 19 destinations in particular to Croatia, Denmark, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal, the equivalent of 100 departures per week. The airline also offers a domestic service to Berlin Schönefeld. The base will close next October, with Transavia still guaranteeing its schedule for the summer season.
In a press release, the company's management explained its change of strategy. " It is part of our DNA to identify and recognise new opportunities market "says Mttijs ten Brink, Managing Director of Transavia Holland. It was for this reason that we opened a new Transavia base in Munich twelve months ago, in a market where our brand was virtually unknown, but was finally welcomed with enthusiasm by the people of Bavaria. Our punctuality was remarkable from the outset, with 90% of our passengers declaring themselves satisfied according to our on-board surveys. ".
" At the same time, we have to continually adapt our business model to market conditions. And we have decided to change strategy to focus our growth on our core original markets. And after assessing the prospects for profitability, the Munich base is no longer suited to our strategy. We will only be serving Amsterdam and Eindhoven from Munich this winter. "adds the Managing Director.
changing our strategy to focus growth on our home markets
In fact, one of the main reasons for this decision is Lufthansa. By breaking into the German airline giant's second hub, Transavia had to expect a "violent" reaction from the German airline. It's done: from this spring, Lufthansa's low-cost subsidiary, Eurowingswill open a base in Munich. With four Airbus A320s, it will serve 32 destinations from the Bavarian hub alongside parent company Lufthansa. That's 89 flights a week at prices of around €40, with the hope of carrying 400,000 passengers by December.
Munich remains relatively unaffected by low-cost phenomenonThis is due to the massive presence of Lufthansa and its partners on European routes. Less than 15% of all passengers flying to and from Munich used a low-cost airline in 2015. This is half the average for Germany, where low-cost carriers account for 31% of the passenger market. This market share is less than 3% in Frankfurt and reaches more than 40% in Berlin Tegel and Düsseldorf, if we consider the passenger traffic of the hybrid airline Airberlin as largely low-cost traffic.
