Airlines Primera Air announces long-haul bases in Frankfurt and Berlin

The plans are ambitious: The Danish-Latvian carrier Primera Air want to become a major player on the growing long-haul low cost market. After the first announcement of transatlantic flights between Birmingham, London-Stansted, Paris Charles de Gaulle and destinations in the US and Canada, the carrier has now confirmed new bases in Brussels, Berlin-Tegel and Frankfurt/Main.

Beginning in June 2019, Primera Air will connect Berlin-Tegel with Boston Logan, New York JFK and Toronto.  From Frankfurt/Main, Primera Air offers routes to Newark, Boston, Montreal and Toronto.

All routes should be operated by Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft. The Boeing 737 MAX 9, which is the successor of the B737-900ER, offers a maximum capacity for 220 passengers or 178 passengers in a two-class configuration with 16 Business Class seats. With a maximum range of 6750 kilometers, the Boeing 737 MAX 9 is able to perform transatlantic flights.

After the insolvency of Air Berlin and the end of their long-haul operations in Berlin-Tegel, Primera Air has only three competitors on the direct routes: The Air Canada low cost subsidiary Air Canada Rouge offers seasonal flights to Toronto and Delta Air Lines flies to New York JFK. Additionally, United Airlines connects Berlin with the second New York Airport Newark.

In Frankfurt/Main, Primera Air has to deal with a larger number of competitors. The home carrier Lufthansa offers daily flights to all four destinations offered by Primera Air. Additionally, the two Lufthansa joint-venture partner airlines Air Canada and United Airlines offer flights to Toronto, Montreal and Newark. The three airlines have formed the A++ transatlantic joint venture offering customers connectivity to the networks on both continents.

Primera Air operates a fleet of five Airbus A321 Neo, two Boeing 737-700 and seven Boeing 737-800. For its long-haul flights, the airline has ordered two Airbus A321LR and 18 Boeing 737 MAX 9. The first aircraft are scheduled for delivery in late 2018.