Airlines Primera Air ceases operations

On Monday, the low-cost carrier issued an official statement, in which the Primera Air team announced that it had to suspend its operations.

The airline wrote, that as of October 2, 2018, the IATA codes PF and 6F have been withdrawn from operating scheduled passenger flights. Code PF stands for Primera Air Scandinavia and 6F for Primera Air Nordic. Primera Air was initially founded in 2009 as “JetX” and operated flights under the current name for the past seven years. The airline employed 300 people.

In the statement, Primera Air wrote: "On behalf of Primera Air team, we would like to thank you for your loyalty. On this sad day, we are saying Goodbye to all of you."

Various media sources suggest, that the reason Primera Air filed for bankruptcy was the delay of the new A321neo and the Boeing 737 aircraft with corrosion last year. These circumstances could have been causing increased expenses in flight cancellations and wet-leasing rates. Moreover, the airline reportedly failed to secure long-term financing.

Primera Air´s last flight was PF596 from Malaga to Copenhagen. The Boeing 737-800 registered as YL-PSG touched down at Denmark´s largest airport on 00:11LT this Tuesday. This flight concluded the existence of Primera Air.

In July 2017, the airline initially announced that it wanted to start transatlantic flights from Birmingham, London-Stansted and Paris Charles de Gaulle. Using state-of-the-air aircraft like the Boeing 737 MAX 9 or the Airbus A321neo, the airline had great ambitions that the low-cost system would come out on top.

Throughout the years, Primera Air announced further expansion plans, not only regarding transatlantic flights but also for the carrier´s European leisure network.

After delivery delays of the new A321neo aircraft, the carrier had to end its plans to operate from Birmingham. In August 2018, Primera Air announced two new bases in Berlin-Tegel and Brussels for 2019, using new Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft. Low-cost transatlantic flights to Newark, Boston and Washington D.C. and Toronto were planned. The airline even announced new transatlantic bases for Frankfurt and Madrid.