Air Canada Completes Transat Purchase

Air Canada today announced that it had reached a deal with Transat A.T. Inc, the company that owns Air Transat.

The agreement for the deal, worth $520 million CAD, was originally announced last month. It will create a Montreal-based global travel giant, providing services in leisure, tourism, and travel distribution across Canada and internationally.

The airlines will remain independent entities with separate brands and offices—Transat will join Air Canada, Air Canada Rogue, and Air Canada Vacations in the family of brand—but the deal will provide “increased job security for both companies’ employees through greater growth prospects,” Air Canada CEO Calin Rovinescu said in a statement announcing the deal.

“Travelers will benefit from the merged companies’ enhanced capabilities in the highly competitive, global leisure travel market and from access to new destinations, more connecting traffic and increased frequencies,” he added.

“For our clients, it will offer even more choices and possibilities. For now, they can continue booking their flights and packages with complete confidence, as all bookings will be honored before and after the closing of the transaction,” Transat CEO Jean-Marc Eustache said.

The deal is still subject to approval from Canadian regulatory agencies and shareholders. Full completion is expected early next year.