European airline Transavia celebrated the delivery of its 14th Airbus A321neo on Saturday, December 20, and it will be the first aircraft to sport the carrier’s latest livery. This aircraft arrived at 
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and was introduced into commercial scheduled service just hours later.
Replacing the carrier’s aging Boeing 737 fleet, this latest arrival marks an important milestone for the KLM low-cost airline , as it sees the Airbus aircraft take over the 737 as the most popular airplane in the fleet. The new livery to match is a relaunch for the Transavia brand identity, which also includes the airline’s iconic tail ‘t’.
A Shiny New Airbus A321neo
Choosing the Airbus A321neo as a suitable replacement for Transavia’s aging Boeing 737 fleet will see the airline’s list of aircraft gradually transition to the more fuel-efficient and quieter Airbus airplanes. The A321neo is being welcomed into the carrier’s fleet alongside the popular A320neo.
While existing Airbus aircraft will see their liveries be refreshed, all existing Boeing 737 planes remaining in the fleet will not get a glow-up and will remain in their current design until they exit the airline’s fleet.
Currently, pictures of the latest aircraft remain scarce, so Simple Flying reached out to the carrier for a statement and further imagery of the new plane. They did not immediately respond by the time this article was published.
Registration PR-YHR
Transavia’s latest aircraft to arrive bears Dutch registration PH-YHR, serial number (MSN) 12568. The aircraft remains so new that it is still absent from our preferred aviation database, ch-aviation, and the likes of Airfleets; some details are available via Planespotters.net. The airplane was finally assembled by Airbus at Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport (XFW) and completed test flights under German Airbus registration D-AVXW.
The airplane was ferried from Hamburg Finkenwerder to Amsterdam Schiphol on Saturday, December 20, under flight covde HV52 departing from XFW at 12:09, and arriving into AMsterdam 50 minutes later at 12:59. The airplane barely had much time on the ground to celebrate, before immediately being put into regular service, its first revenue service to Athens as detailed below with data from Flightradar24:
|
Flight Number |
From |
To |
Departure Time |
Arrival Time |
Flight Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
HV6869 |
Amsterdam |
Athens |
4:35 pm |
8:27 pm |
Two hours, 52 minutes |
|
HV6870 |
Athens |
Amsterdam |
9:47 pm |
11:56 pm |
Three hours, nine minutes |
On Sunday, December 21, the aircraft is scheduled to operate from Amsterdam to Gran Canaria and back, before traveling back to Spain to Valencia. The aircraft is configured in an all-economy class layout, catering for up to 232 paying passengers. Powered by two CFMI engines, the aircraft’s HEX Code (a permanent 6-character hexadecimal identifier) is 4868BA.
This Airline Has Become The Newest Airbus A321XLR Customer With Order For 2 Jets
The game-changing aircraft is set to fly Aegean Airlines further than ever.
Over 50 Aircraft Remain On Order
Overall, Transavia will welcome a total of 70 Airbus A320 or A321neo aircraft, with 14 received. With another 56 to go, these aircraft are also part of an order with 60 options that will be shared between Transavia, Transavia France, and KLM. The A320neo will be fitted out to transport up to 186 passengers, while the A321neo carries up to 232.
Transavia maintains an established base at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Rotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM), and Eindhoven Airport (EIN). The airline primarily operates year-round, seasonal, and charter flights to 96 destinations across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. As expected of a low-cost carrier, passengers are treated to a buy-on-board service for flights, with additional fees charged for checked baggage or priority boarding.
Transavia is 100% owned by KLM, while also holding a 4.49% interest in the French airline Transavia France (with the rest owned by Air France). Both airlines have the same brand, with an identical website, imagery, and business model; they operate as separate businesses, while still all being under the Air France-KLM umbrella. The carriers both hold codeshare agreements with Air France, KLM, and partner carrier 
Delta Air Lines.
