Primera Air Nordic and Primera Air Scandinavia will file for bankruptcy tomorrow 2 October

Pilots and cabin crew of Primera Air have received a terrible e-mail this afternoon:

Dear colleagues,

It is with great regret I am reaching out to you all this dark day. We have just been informed that both Primera Air Nordic and Primera Air Scandinavia will file for bankruptcy tomorrow October 2, 2018.

Primera Air Nordic has IATA code 6F and is based in Riga, Latvia. Primera Air Scandinavia has IATA code PF and is based in Billund, Denmark. Both operate under the same name Primera Air and have the same livery. Their current combined fleet consists of 5 A321neo, 2 B737-700s and 8 B737-800s.

It is not a big surprise for anyone who follows closely the airline industry: Primera had engaged in an unsustainable growth, announcing new flights from several European capitals (including Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, London Stansted, Madrid, …) to North American cities: Boston, New York (EWR and JFK), Toronto, Washington, all with a fleet of brand new Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft to be delivered in early 2019.

Primera had a bad reputation: it abruptly cancelled all its transatlantic flights from Birmingham earlier this year, and travellers had a lot of difficulties to be reimbursed, let alone get an EU261 compensation. The European flights also suffered many delays and cancellations, and passengers had the same problems.

On 1 October, at least one Primera Air Scandinavia Airbus A321neo (OY-PAF) was impounded at Stansted Airport for unpaid airport charges. The aircraft was to operate flight PF41 to Newark.

Primera Air issued a statement confirming it will cease all operations as from tomorrow (2 October). The airline thanked all passengers for their loyalty and asked them to visit primeraair.com for further updates in next few days.

Passengers learnt the news at different European airports as they were about to board their flights: Michelle Langlois was about to take her Primera Air flight from Paris CDG to Toronto when suddenly her flight was cancelled. Thousands of passengers are stranded in North America and continental Europe tonight after the collapse of the low-cost long-haul carrier.

Exactly one year ago – on 2 October 2017 – Monarch Airlines entered into administration leaving 110,000 passengers stranded abroad.

Sadly, another one bites the dust…

Forum discussion: https://www.aviation24.be/forums/viewtopic.php?p=373065#p373065

Full mail sent out to Primera staff

Dear colleagues,

It is with great regret I am reaching out to you all this dark day. We have just been informed that both Primera Air Nordic and Primera Air Scandinavia will file for bankruptcy tomorrow October 2, 2018.

Currently flights are operated as normally and OCC, Crewing and Travel are working on arranging travel home for crews who happen to be on outstations.

Reasons I am sure are many but very high cost for the aircraft with corrosion last year as well as the delays of our new Airbuses lead to too high costs for wet lease and cancellations which in the end became too much for the airlines. Our owner was working on securing financing but was not able to in the end. This is what was stated during today’s staff meeting in the Riga office.

All the staff in the Riga office have been informed but official information will not be sent out until midnight by our owner. I understand it is difficult but please keep this to yourself if you can until after the official notification from the owner. In fact, I am not even authorized to send this email but I think it is the right thing to do for all of you out there on the line. You deserve to know.

I will continue to be available on phone and email.

God knows it has not been without its challenges but thanks to all of you great colleagues it has been a real honour to be at the controls of the flight ops department the past 7 years. 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.

Thank you all for the past years and take good care of you out there.

Best regards,

A. L.

Director Flight Operations

Primera Air

Statement by Primera Air

Dear Passengers,

Airline Primera Air and IATA codes PF and 6F have been suspended as of October 2nd, 2018.

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.

Please visit primeraair.com for further updates in next few days. Tour Operator passengers are kindly suggested to address their Tour Operators and Agents for further information and actions.

Kindly understand that the usual options for contacts (via email or phone) can not be offered any longer.

Sincerely yours.