Industry Primera Air takes delivery of first A321Neo

The aircraft, which was assembled in Hamburg, is the first of three A321Neos to be leased from GECAS in 2018. Primera Air will also lease a further five A321Neos from other lessors, including two A321LRs, growing its fleet to eight aircraft in 2018.

The aircraft, powered by CFM International LEAP-1A engines, features a two-class layout with 16 premium and 182 economy seats.

Primera Air will use the new aircraft to offer new transatlantic flights between Europe and America. It will connect Birmingham, London Stansted and Paris Charles de Gaulle with the US airports Newark, Washington Dulles and Boston as well as the Canadian Toronto-Pearson. In January 2018, Primera Air’s CEO Hrafn Thorgeirsson has stated, that his airline is evaluating further destinations on the US market like Baltimore and Montreal.

Primera Air is a leisure carrier owned by the Primera Travel Group. The carrier operates flights from several European and mostly Scandinavian hubs to the destinations in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Currently, the carrier operates an all-Boeing fleet with two Boeing 737-800 in the Primera Air Scandinavia fleet and two Boeing 737-700 and five B737-800 in the Primera Air Nordic fleet.

The new received Airbus jet will be the first jet with a business class. All Boeing aircraft have a single-class layout. In addition to the new Airbus aircraft, Primera Air has ordered eight 737 MAX 9 airplanes, valued at more than $950 million at list prices. The agreement also includes purchase rights for four additional 737 MAX 9s and a lease agreement for eight more airplanes from Air Lease Corporation.