Air Transat, Thomas Cook sign seven-year seasonal aircraft-sharing deal

Tourism firm Transat A.T. Inc (TSX:TRZ) and Thomas Cook Group Airlines say they have signed a deal to share aircraft on a seasonal basis.

The companies say the seven-year partnership will allow both to utilize their fleet of planes more efficiently as their flight destinations shift with the seasons.

Air Transat uses smaller aircraft in the winter to fly to the Caribbean, Mexico and Florida and larger aircraft in the summer for transatlantic flights.

Meanwhile, Thomas Cook uses smaller aircraft in the summer for Mediterranean travel and larger aircraft in the winter for destinations such as Cuba.

Under the agreement announced Monday, every winter Thomas Cook will make available some narrow-body Airbus planes for Air Transat and receive at least one wide-body Airbus plane in return.