One of the most ambitious airlines of the past year sadly looks like it will cease all flying over the next few days and enter administration.
Primera Air – a holiday airline founded in 2009 (as JetX) – recently made the leap into the emerging low-cost transatlantic model, introducing brand new Airbus A321neo aircraft on flights out of London Stansted and Paris CDG to destinations including New York, Boston, Toronto and Washington DC.
Today, a leaked email emerged stating that the airline is entering administration, with all flights to cease, leaving thousands of passengers stranded broad.
The situation has arisen following the airline’s ability to secure financing to allow it service debts and payments.
Over recent weeks a number of additional bases for transatlantic flights had been announced, including Brussels, Berlin, Frankfurt and Madid, which would all launch when the airline received the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft it had ordered.
Delays in the delivery of the airline’s first A321neo caused the airline problems in starting transatlantic operations, with planned operations from Birmingham being cut short.
The statement sent to employees said “We got the permits, we flew the flights, we got good reviews from the passengers. In other words, we fulfilled our part of the mission. The financial and commercial aspects we could not influence.”
This is a sad moment, and we hope the airline and its plans can be resurrected.
2 comments
Maybe they were a bit too ambitious or naive, however sorry to see them go, but thats the airline cut throat business these days.
They should have cut costs before announcing new bases, plus there was no way this airline could operate with so low ticket prices.