Primera Air Scandinavia
A/S,
was a
Danish airline
An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...
owned by Primera Travel Group.
It provided scheduled and charter passenger services from
Northern Europe
The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...
to more than 40 destinations in the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
,
Middle East
The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq.
The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
and
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
.
It ceased operations on 1 October 2018.
The airline was originally founded in
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
as JetX, before it was acquired by Primera Travel Group and renamed to Primera Air Scandinavia. In 2009/2010, operations were transferred to a newly founded Danish unit and the Icelandic
air operator's certificate
An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial air transport purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets and s ...
was subsequently cancelled. The airline also owned
Primera Air Nordic, a
Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
n subsidiary airline established in 2014.
History
Icelandic origins
Primera Air Scandinavia began as the airline '
JetX'' (IATA: GX, ICAO: JXX) in Iceland. The company was founded in 2003 and received its
air operator's certificate
An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial air transport purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets and s ...
in May 2004. Initially the airline flew a single
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 but soon added a second one. Between July and October 2004, scheduled flights were carried out of
Forlì
Forlì ( ; ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is, together with Cesena, the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena.The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the east of the Montone river, ...
in Italy.
Flights were subsidized by local authorities, but the operation was impaired by non-payment of subsidies and further issues.
In 2006, Primera Travel Group, an Icelandic tourism operator with subsidiaries in several countries, bought a controlling interest
and Jón Karl Ólafsson was named chairman in 2008.
Transition to Denmark and Latvia, short-haul expansion
In 2009, Primera Travel Group launched Primera Air Scandinavia as a Danish subsidiary, initially equipped with a single Boeing 737 based at
Billund Airport
Billund Airport () is an airport in Denmark. Located northeast of Billund, Denmark, Billund, it serves as one of the country's busiest Cargo airline, air cargo centres, as well as a charter airline destination. It is the List of the busiest a ...
, operated by the Icelandic Primera Air. The same year, Primera Air Scandinavia received its own
air operator's certificate
An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial air transport purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets and s ...
from the Danish authorities to commence its own operations. Subsequently, the Icelandic unit was closed and all operations were transferred to the Danish airline in 2010.
Initially, Primera Air Scandinavia operated
charter flights
Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline).
Regulation
Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights ...
for major Scandinavian
tour operator
A tour operator is a business that typically combines and organizes lodging, accommodations, meals, sightseeing and transportation components, in order to create a package tour. They advertise and produce brochures to promote their products, holi ...
s, but gradually started selling surplus seats as "flight-only" tickets on some of the fixed charter flights in 2013. The continued success allowed Primera to increase both the number of routes and flight frequency, resulting in a mixed charter/scheduled carrier
business model
A business model describes how a Company, business organization creates, delivers, and captures value creation, value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-pub ...
. In late 2014 Primera launched 10 new winter and summer direct flight destinations from Iceland, namely,
Las Palmas
Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean.
It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...
,
Tenerife
Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...
,
Alicante
Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...
,
Salzburg
Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...
,
Malaga,
Mallorca
Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.
The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...
and
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
,
Bologna
Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
,
Crete
Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...
and
Bodrum
Bodrum () is a town and district of Muğla Province, Turkey. About 200 thousand people live in the district, which covers 650 km2 and includes the town. It is a port town at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Known in ancient times as Hal ...
.
The airline transitioned to mostly scheduled flight operations, although some flights combined charter and regular passengers, and separate full charter flight services were available.
In August 2014 Primera Air Travel Group announced the founding of a new airline as
Primera Air Nordic in
Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
, which would be run parallel to Primera Air Scandinavia. Simultaneously, a new Network Control Center was opened in
Riga
Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...
for overseeing all operational matters of the group's airlines. Hrafn Thorgeirsson was appointed as the new CEO of both Primera Air Scandinavia and Primera Air Nordic.
On 26 October 2014 Primera Air Scandinavia launched weekly flights from
Gothenburg
Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
and
Malmö
Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...
to
Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
(
Al Maktoum
The House of Maktoum ( ') is the ruling royal family of the Emirate of Dubai, and one of the six ruling families of the United Arab Emirates. The family is a branch of the Bani Yas clan (a lineage the family shares with the Al Nahyan dynas ...
) and
Tenerife
Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...
, from
Helsinki
Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
to
Fuerteventura
Fuerteventura () is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, geographically part of Macaronesia, and politically part of Spain. It is located away from the coast of North Africa. The island was declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO i ...
and
Las Palmas
Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean.
It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...
. On November 16 the airline commenced a new route from
Keflavik to
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
(
JFK
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until Assassination of John F. Kennedy, his assassination in 1963. He was the first Catholic Chur ...
) after acquiring rights to serve the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Later that year the airline started four new weekly routes, which included
Aalborg
Aalborg or Ålborg ( , , ) is Denmark's List of cities and towns in Denmark, fourth largest urban settlement (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban populati ...
to
Las Palmas
Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean.
It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...
,
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
to
Lanzarote
Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands, off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula.
Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the islands in the archipelago. With 163,230 inhabi ...
via
Billund, as well as
Aarhus
Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...
to
Tenerife
Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...
and
Fuerteventura
Fuerteventura () is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, geographically part of Macaronesia, and politically part of Spain. It is located away from the coast of North Africa. The island was declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO i ...
.
In July 2014 Primera Air flew 155,000 passengers in 1,006 flights, with an average load factor of 91%.
The major restructuring and consolidation had a positive impact on the airline. In 2015, the airline operated eight aircraft with a turnover of US$250 million, and earned more than 5.2 million euros in
total revenue before taxes (EBITDA). During the first 8 months of 2016, the airline had earned 4 million euros with an estimate of 7.60 million by the end of the year.
In 2015, Primera Air Scandinavia signed agreements worth 30 million euros with several leading travel agencies in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
for operating a series of flights with 2 aircraft from
Charles de Gaulle airport
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport , also known as Roissy Airport, is the primary international airport serving Paris, the capital city of France. The airport opened in 1974 and is located in Roissy-en-France, northeast of Paris. It is named for ...
to popular holiday destinations during summer.
In February 2016, Croatian destinations
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...
and
Pula
Pula, also known as Pola, is the largest city in Istria County, west Croatia, and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the Istria, Istrian peninsula in western Croatia, wi ...
were added to the range of flight destinations. In May 2016, the airline commenced regular flights from
Billund to
Nice
Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million[Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...]
. Shortly afterwards, flights to
Antalya
Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...
were introduced. Later that year Primera Air announced the increase in frequency for existing destinations as well as new destinations (
Milan Malpensa and
Rome Fiumicino) from
Stockholm
Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
for the summer season of 2017, which was done in an effort to strengthen its operations and presence in Sweden and in line with its plans for further fleet and destination range expansion.
Later that year
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...
,
Almería
Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...
and
Lamezia Terme
Lamezia Terme (), commonly called Lamezia, is an Italian city and ''comune'' of 70,452 inhabitants (2013), in the province of Catanzaro in the Calabria region.
History
The municipality of Lamezia Terme was formally created on 4 January 1968. It ...
were added as destinations.
Summer 2017 saw the addition of routes to
Kalamata
Kalamata ( ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece after Patras, and the largest city of the Peloponnese (region), homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regiona ...
,
Ponta Delgada
Ponta Delgada (; ) is the largest municipality (''concelho'') and executive capital of the Autonomous Region of the Azores in Portugal. It is located on São Miguel Island, the largest and most populous in the archipelago. As of 2021, it has 67,2 ...
and
Madeira
Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...
.
Long-haul flights and massive expansion
In 2017, the airline decided to venture into the scheduled low-cost transatlantic market from 2018. Flights between North America and Europe at the time were a highly competitive market, but adapting low-cost operations on this market did not show any great success for other carriers.
Norwegian Air Shuttle
Norwegian Air Shuttle Aksjeselskap, ASA, trading as Norwegian, is a Norway, Norwegian Low-cost carrier, low-cost airline and Scandinavia's second-largest airline, behind Scandinavian Airlines. It is the fourth largest low-cost carrier in Europe ...
, once a profitable short- and medium-haul budget airline, aggressively expanded on the long-haul market leading to large losses.
The long-haul debut was announced in July 2017, and initially consisted of services on six routes from
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
,
London Stansted and
Paris Charles de Gaulle to
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
and
Newark. The services were due to start between April and June 2018 using brand-new
Airbus A321neo
The Airbus A321neo is a Single-aisle aircraft, single-aisle airliner created by Airbus. The A321neo (''neo'' being an acronym for "new engine option") is developed from the Airbus A321 and Airbus A320neo family. It is the longest stretched fusela ...
aircraft to be delivered to the airline.
In February 2018, the airline announced one additional long-haul route from
London Stansted, connecting it to
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, from August 2018.
The airline also scheduled medium-haul services from the UK, connecting Palma and Malaga from Birmingham and Alicante and Malaga from London Stansted. The routes were to be commenced in April and May 2018, using Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Furthermore, the airline also expanded its 2018 leisure network from Scandinavia with flights to
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
,
Kos
Kos or Cos (; ) is a Greek island, which is part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 37,089 (2021 census), making ...
and
Zakynthos
Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; ; ) or Zante (, , ; ; from the Venetian language, Venetian form, traditionally Latinized as Zacynthus) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands, with an are ...
from Copenhagen, Billund, and Stockholm. Primera Air also announced increased flight frequency for flights to its most popular destinations in southern Spain, and the pricing policy on these routes had allowed it to compete with the
low-cost carrier
A low-cost carrier (LCC) or low-cost airline, also called a budget, or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper fa ...
Norwegian Air Shuttle
Norwegian Air Shuttle Aksjeselskap, ASA, trading as Norwegian, is a Norway, Norwegian Low-cost carrier, low-cost airline and Scandinavia's second-largest airline, behind Scandinavian Airlines. It is the fourth largest low-cost carrier in Europe ...
.
The launch of transatlantic flights from the United Kingdom and France to the United States in the summer of 2018 was impacted by the late delivery of the planned
Airbus A321neo
The Airbus A321neo is a Single-aisle aircraft, single-aisle airliner created by Airbus. The A321neo (''neo'' being an acronym for "new engine option") is developed from the Airbus A321 and Airbus A320neo family. It is the longest stretched fusela ...
fleet. In order to commence its routes, the airline had to charter a
Boeing 767-300ER from
EuroAtlantic Airways and a
Boeing 757-200 from
National Airlines. Citing delivery delays by Airbus of its A321neo fleet, Primera soon cancelled all transatlantic operations at
Birmingham Airport
Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Bor ...
scheduled on or after 21 June 2018. Transatlantic flights to and from Birmingham were expected to resume in 2019. However, in July 2018, Primera Air announced it would terminate all operations at Birmingham Airport by October 2018.
In August 2018, the airline announced two new bases in
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
and
Berlin Tegel for 2019, using
Boeing 737 MAX 9
The Boeing 737 MAX is a series of narrow-body aircraft developed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes as the fourth generation of the Boeing 737. It succeeds the Boeing 737 Next Generation and incorporates more efficient CFM International LEAP engin ...
aircraft. The announced routes were from Brussels to
Newark in May 2019, and in June 2019, routes from both Brussels and Berlin to
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
and Washington, D.C., and from Berlin to
New York JFK and
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
the same month. In September 2018, Primera announced two more transatlantic bases in Europe to open in 2019; one in
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
and one in
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
. The routes announced for Frankfurt were to
New York JFK and
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
in June 2019, and to
Montréal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
and
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
in July 2019, while the routes announced for Madrid were to
Newark in July 2019, and to Boston and Toronto in August 2019, also to be operated with the
Boeing 737 MAX 9
The Boeing 737 MAX is a series of narrow-body aircraft developed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes as the fourth generation of the Boeing 737. It succeeds the Boeing 737 Next Generation and incorporates more efficient CFM International LEAP engin ...
.
Collapse
The airline had struggled to run profitably for years, and although the airline achieved a profit in 2017, it was mainly due to the sale of aircraft.
The airline also paid over US$20 million to charter or
wet lease aircraft due to the late delivery of its Airbus A321neo fleet, alongside other unforeseen expenses. Unable to obtain further financing to accommodate the resulting losses, Primera announced in a statement dated 30 September 2018 that it would cease operations effective 2 October 2018, citing a poor financial standing from the write-off of an aircraft from corrosion, delivery delays of the Airbus A321neo aircraft and resultant
wet leasing, and being unable to secure long-term financing.
The final flight to land was PF596 from
Málaga
Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...
to
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
.
From April 2018, the airline had canceled some flights; customers said that as of the date of bankruptcy they had not yet received promised compensation. Neither passengers nor employees received advance notice of the shutdown, and many planes were in the air at the time of the decision. Some passengers learned that the airline was shut down while in line to board the plane.
Many people, including employees, were stranded at foreign airports.
Despite the bankruptcy of its airline subsidiary, Primera Travel Group continued to operate its various travel agencies and tour operators in Scandinavia but changed its name to TravelCo Nordic in October 2018.
[ Still, the group faced huge losses due to the collapse of Primera Air. 2018 was closed with a loss of 156m DKK. This by far exceeded all profits made in previous years.
TravelCo Nordic subsequently folded in late 2020 in wake of the Corona crisis and ceased trading.
]
Destinations
Primera Air Scandinavia mostly operated return flights from its Scandinavian airports to popular holiday destinations along the Mediterranean coast of Europe and Africa, the Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...
, the Azores
The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...
, Madeira
Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
and Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
, as well as custom charter flights to virtually any destination. The airline maintained seasonal summer and winter selections.
The airline had launched transatlantic operations from April 2018, connecting France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
to Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
and the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.
At the time of closure, the airline had served several routes, but further announced long-haul flights from Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, and Madrid never commenced.
Criticism
Primera Travel Group's airlines were criticized for working conditions and alleged social dumping. Cabin crew working for the Primera Air Nordic unit were recruited through recruitment agencies, with the staff mostly originating from Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
, but based in Scandinavia. Wages were significantly lower than standard Scandinavian wages, and employment contracts included very limited payments in the event of illness and lacked paid vacation leave.
Fleet
At the time of bankruptcy and cessation of operations on 2 October 2018, the Primera Air Scandinavia fleet consisted of the following aircraft:
At closure, there were seven aircraft registered to Primera Air. A further seven aircraft were registered to subsidiary Primera Air Nordic, whose operations were fully integrated into those of the parent company.
Despite financial woes, Primera continued its ambitious expansion and accepted aircraft deliveries, with a Boeing 737-800, registered OY-PSJ, as the final aircraft to be taken into service. The aircraft commenced revenue services on 20 September 2018, just eleven days before the airline folded. Further aircraft destined for the carrier were in production at the time the airline folded, including an Airbus A321neo that was fully painted and a Boeing 737 MAX 9 that was partially painted in Primera's livery.
References
External links
Official website
archived
on 1 September 2018
{{Airlines of Denmark
Defunct airlines of Denmark
Defunct airlines of Iceland
Airlines established in 2009
Airlines disestablished in 2018
Defunct European low-cost airlines
2009 establishments in Denmark
2018 disestablishments in Denmark