CUSTOMER PROFILE ‘Low fare with care’ With an all-Boeing fleet of 737s, Dutch airline continues to grow By Dan Mosely BOEING FRONTIERS / JUNE 2013 11 In November 1966, a Dutch dance com-pany, an orchestra and some famous ballet stars boarded a chartered DC-6 and flew from Amsterdam to Naples, Italy. Ten years after that first flight, Transavia Holland had 45 percent of the busy Dutch holiday, or vacation charter, market. A decade after that, the airline—by then called Transavia Airlines—began operating scheduled low-cost flights with a fleet of Boeing Classic 737s. Today, rebranded as transavia.com, the airline has become a respected national institution in the Netherlands. For five con-secutive years, the Dutch travel industry has awarded it both the best low-cost and best charter airline operating out of the Netherlands. The airline generates 90 percent of its ticket sales online, and its website gets 1.5 million hits a month. What has not changed over the years is transavia.com’s reliance on an all-Boeing fleet, which now includes more than 30 Next-Generation 737s. Last year, transavia.com took delivery of its first 737-800 with the Boeing Sky Interior. The company’s slogan—“low fare with care”—reflects its focus on high-quality customer service coupled with affordable pricing, according to Bram Gräber, chair-man of transavia.com. The airline offers low fares to more than 100 summer and winter holiday destinations, from Copenhagen to Casablanca, Morocco. Most flights serve the Mediterranean region and northern Africa, departing from the airline’s three bases—Amster-dam’s Schiphol Airport, Rotterdam The Hague Airport and Eindhoven Airport. Gräber said the fleet of efficient 737s has allowed the airline to expand its range of destinations in tough economic times while offering passengers a better and more enjoyable overall flight experience. “What ultimately matters most is the passenger,” Gräber said, “which is why I am proud that we are adding new 737s with the Boeing Sky Interior to our fleet.” As a member of the Air France–KLM Group, transavia.com has also expanded its operations to France through its Paris-based arm, Transavia France (see story on Page 30). Since 2007, French holiday-makers, like their Dutch counterparts, have been able to take advantage of low-cost fares to destinations across Europe, North-ern Africa and the Middle East. Transavia France has expanded rapidly over the past six years. It now operates a fleet of 11 737-800s and plans to increase the fleet by three airplanes in 2014. Gräber said both the Dutch and French sides of the business will take further 737-800 deliveries as transavia.com continues to grow. n daniel.mosely@boeing.com “What ultimately matters most is the passenger, which is why I am proud that we are adding new 737s with the Boeing Sky Interior to our fleet.” – Bram Gräber, chairman, transavia.com PHOTOS: (Top) The latest Next-Generation 737-800 for transavia.com departs Boeing Field in April. JIM ANDERSON/BOEING (Above, from left) Bram Gräber, chairman of transavia.com. TRANSAVIA.COM The airline’s Boeing Sky Interior. JIM ANDERSON/BOEING
Frontiers June 2013 Issue
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