Another Ultra-Low Cost Carrier Bites The Dust, Leaves Passengers High and Dry

When operations at Primera Air ceased suddenly on Monday, the airline cut off all communication with passengers and left crews and flyers stranded at airports on both sides of the Atlantic. The ultra-low cost carrier blamed the abrupt bankruptcy and immediate grounding of flights on manufacturing delays that caused new aircraft to be delivered behind schedule.

Operations at once promising Primera Air ended abruptly this week, not with a roar but with a tweet. The airline closed its doors unceremoniously with a less-than-sympathetic post to passengers on Monday.

“Dear Passengers,” the airline wrote in a curt message to stranded flyers.  “Airline Primera Air and IATA codes PF and 6F have been suspended as of today, please find more information here: primeraair.com.”

Dear Passengers,
Airline Primera Air and IATA codes PF and 6F have been suspended as of today, please find more information here: https://t.co/DgKuVIZB5S

— Primera Air (@primeraair) October 1, 2018

Adding insult to injury, the airline’s website was out of commission only a few hours after the notice appeared on social media. Prior to allowing the website to go dark, the airline issued a statement indicating that any attempts to reach the now defunct carrier would be futile.

“Kindly understand that the usual options for contacts (via email or phone) cannot be offered any longer,” the airline announced in one of its final public statements late on Monday.

The moves by the long-haul ultra-low cost carrier left hundreds of passengers stranded with very few options. In fact, the surprise shuttering of the budget airline left some crew members without a way home as well. The Business Insider reports that hundreds of marooned passengers and a handful of crew members were still sleeping in airport terminals on both sides of the Atlantic as of Tuesday.

In public statements, officials placed the blame for the airline’s demise on aircraft manufacturer Airbus. While officials seemed distressed about the business’s failure (apparently through no fault of their own), they did not appear to be nearly as upset about the crews and passengers left stranded overseas, telling reporters only, “Unfortunately, all employees of Primera Air are let go and we don’t have more information.” In a statement to Quartz, the airline’s board lamented the circumstances that led to the carrier’s surprise bankruptcy.

“2018 began with a fantastic start of our low-cost long-haul project with a brand-new Airbus 321neo fleet, however, due to severe delays of aircraft deliveries this beginning ended up being rocky and incredibly problematic: operational issues, cancelations of number of flights, loss of revenues are just a few to mention. In addition, to fulfill our obligations in front of passengers,” the airline said in a remarkably self-pitying statement,  “Primera Air leased in aircraft and bore additional costs of over 20 million euros.”

The airline famous for offering transatlantic flights for as little as $99 or less each way was founded in 2003. In this case, it seems the ultra-thin margins of offering long-haul budget flights appear to have made the airline unable to weather the temporary delay of new aircraft deliveries.

The ripples of Primera’s rapid fall from grace could soon be felt across the industry. The Reykjavik Grapevine reports that Icelandic banks, already on the hot seat for their role in the 2008 Icelandic financial collapse, lost millions of dollars betting on Primera Air. This is not good news for struggling Reykjavík–Keflavík Airport (KEF)-based WOW Air which employs a similar business model to Primera and could now see its access to capital from its hometown banks seriously inhibited.

There is at least something of a ray of hope for stranded passengers. Virgin Atlantic Airlines, Norwegian Air and Delta Air Lines have already stepped forward to offer emergency reduced fare tickets to those affected by the bankruptcy of the former transatlantic rival.

 

[Image: Wikimedia Commons]