The sudden demise of budget carrier Primera Air is continuing to cause travel misery for thousands of the airline’s customers. The Danish-registered company (formed of both Primera Air Nordic and Primera Air Scandinavia) announced it was ceasing all operations at midnight on Monday after 14 years of operations, leaving some passengers and crew stranded overseas.
The company was in the middle of an ambitious transatlantic expansion programme, announcing a wealth of new routes from London/Stansted, Brussels and Madrid to destinations across the eastern US and Canada, with one-way fares from £99. Services to Washington/Dulles and Newark due to leave London/Stansted on Monday evening were grounded and passengers for later departures were instructed not to go to the airport.
Management at the airline, which operated a fleet of Boeing and Airbus aircraft, had earlier cited delays in deliveries of the A321neo for the abrupt termination of services from Birmingham. The carrier was also due to receive A321LR and 737 MAX examples beginning in 2019 to support its aggressive intra-Europe and long-haul growth plans.
A holding message on the airline’s website read: “Airline Primera Air and IATA codes PF and 6F have been suspended as of today, October 2, 2018. On behalf of [the] Primera Air team, we would like to thank you for your loyalty. On this sad day we are saying goodbye to all of you.”
Airports including London/Stansted are understood to be reviewing options to recoup any unpaid bills by the carrier – including the possible seizing of aircraft.