Primera Air

[Aceshigh]

"the vast majority of people in the West Midlands will still be largely unaware. Also bare in mind how much people complain on social media about anything these days - most of the time I end up ignoring what is said anyway!"

I suspect Simon Calder is monitoring twitter and indeed "circling" this forum so I wouldn't hang my hat on this not getting out !

 

[58terminus]

I keep reading tat negot

"the vast majority of people in the West Midlands will still be largely unaware. Also bare in mind how much people complain on social media about anything these days - most of the time I end up ignoring what is said anyway!"

I suspect Simon Calder is monitoring twitter and indeed "circling" this forum so I wouldn't hang my hat on this not getting out !

Of course it will get out and do you know what? People in the south east will read it and think i'm not risking my money booking with them from Stansted or anywhere else.

 

[Matt995]

apparently Primera Air had a good 2017 :-

Primera Air has a record year as it prepares to launch new transatlantic routes



Primera Air issued this statement:

2017 was a record year for Primera Air – the airline has carried more than 1 million passengers with a total number of 1,017,657. Direct sales on the website have grown a staggering 125.8% and the Company’s revenue has increased by 13.7% compared to 2016. All figures have been reached with a consistent load factor of 85%.

Primera Air is opening new bases in Birmingham (BHX), London Stansted (STN) and Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) to commence flights to New York, Boston and Toronto in April, along with new routes from the UK to Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Alicante, Barcelona and Chania.

In the next two years, Primera Air plans to increase its presence at its current bases and to add new transatlantic routes and bases, as the airline has 20 new Boeing 737-9 MAX 9s on order (above).

Primera Air is a scheduled carrier serving flights to more than 70 destinations in Europe. The airline is based in Denmark and Latvia and is part of the Primera Travel Group, which includes travel agencies and tour operators in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland and Estonia.

 

[Coathanger16]

"the vast majority of people in the West Midlands will still be largely unaware. Also bare in mind how much people complain on social media about anything these days - most of the time I end up ignoring what is said anyway!"

I suspect Simon Calder is monitoring twitter and indeed "circling" this forum so I wouldn't hang my hat on this not getting out !

I'm wasn't suggesting the media won't get wind of it.

Yes having no brand in the UK is a bad thing in the sense of when something bad happens at Ryanair people will always go back as they know the brand. But on the other hand not having a brand isn't necessarily a bad thing. Primera is such an unknown brand in the UK that if/when the media start pushing this story, a lot of people will likely respond along the lines of "whose Primera Air?" Perhaps that's the angle Primera are trying to go for here - "we're still relatively unknown in the UK, so if we stay quiet it may minimize the fall out more than if we came out with a big public statement and apology". Who knows?

I think we have to ask ourselves how much we want TATL services from BHX, and if the answer is that we do then we need to give Primera a chance. If Primera pull out of BHX completely, I fear just how long it will be before we can regain a direct link to N.America.

 

[Purebeef]

Agreed leave Primera to do what they are doing in the background. All we are doing is speculating and supplying a negative review of an airline that clearly successful and will continue to be.

 

[David_itl]

Speculating? The airline e-mailing passengers about cancelled flights and the booking engine seemingly having developed an allergic reaction to displaying long-haul ex-BHX indicates to me a very botched publicity effort. No amount of "success" they put out will counteract potential adverse publicity.

In hindsight, it now looks as though they should have gone in with 2 bases opening this year - one of them to have the full quota of long-haul as advertised and the other to have either the daily New York or the split Boston/Toronto ops and then add in the service(s) not added in June later on in the year. Personally I reckon New York would be a slightly easier to launch from autumn onwards than Boston and Toronto.

Then with aircraft 5 and 6 they could open up the 3rd base next year. But even this now look a bit fraught - may be they should have bolstered ops at 2 bases before doing a 3rd base? And if you are wondering, I reckon it ought to have been BHX for the full base now with STN getting the slow ramp up and steer clear of CDG this year.

 

[Brum X]

This forum has started to discuss Primera Air. It looks as if customer services are working over the weekend and offering passengers alternate days and even paying for the cost of transport to STN if no BHX alternative. At least there is some kind of customer service now rather than just sending out emails.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=73788843#post73788843

 

[Brum X]

It also looks like there was a party of 150 booked on BHX-BOS, that makes me mad. Now probably going from STN or MAN

 

[Ianbutty]

https://www.birminghampost.co.uk/business/business-news/boston-new-york-flights-birmingham-14215588

Boston flights from Birmingham Airport scrapped by Primera Air and New York service faces cuts
Airline says there has not been enough interest in the service to Boston while its New York route will reduce frequency
Sorry but on my phone I cannot copy the rest of the article.

Not good. Not good at all. Clearly demand for TATL routes from the catchment area cannot sustain some cities. Geography and low propensity to fly.

Ho-hum.

 

[route66]

No mention of lack of aircraft.

 

[Ianbutty]

No mention of lack of aircraft.

Worse than that. Lack of demand. Poor sales. What we feared.

Poor planning on their part. Should have done better research. Boston is a great city and I am sure a fair number of midlanders travel there in any given year but with daily flights from the North and South and is wedged in between it sadly will not work.

I would rather see un or underserved Europe destinations developed. We are after all a Cologne / Lyon / Stuttgart size airport rather than a national or multi regional airport.

 

[Jerry]

In a way that may be a good thing because they've ended the poor performing service before the flights start and when the second aircraft eventually arrives they can look at increasing the flights on the routes that are doing well and may be able to look at others ahead of schedule.

 

[smithy108]

Here is the full story, end on a positive note...maybe
Boston flights from Birmingham Airport scrapped by Primera Air and New York service faces cuts
A planned new transatlantic service from Birmingham Airport has been cancelled before it even launched.

Primera Air announced in July that it was launching four flights a week from Birmingham to Boston which was due to start on June 22.

But the Latvian budget airline has decided to abandon the plans due to poor take up by customers.

In addition, it is also decreasing the frequency of its new route between Birmingham and Newark Airport near New York.

In the first month of the service, launching on May 18, there will be daily flights but this will reduce to four times a week from June 23.

In October, the airline also announced it would be launching thrice-weekly flights to Toronto in May although these are now due to commence on June 23.

Primera Air said all passengers affected by the decision to scrap the Boston route had been offered alternatives, including flights from London Stansted, with Primera Air covering the cost to and from the Essex airport, services with other airlines and refunds.

"We apologise for the inconvenience caused to all those affected passengers and are working now to re-accommodate them as soon as possible," the airline said in a statement.

It added: "Primera Air has reviewed its flight schedule from the Birmingham due to changing passenger flow trends.

"While we see very strong passenger numbers for flights to Toronto and New York, unfortunately the Boston route shows the weakest results.

"We have to keep a strong focus only on those destinations delivering the best commercial results.

"While Boston is one of the best performers from London and Paris, in Birmingham the demand is hitting high for the New York and Toronto routes.

"We are keeping those flights from Birmingham that are most demanded by the market as well as adding new ones.

"Furthermore, Birmingham Airport is by far our biggest new base for 2018 regarding the number of flights.

"This decision doesn't change our plans to improve the flight network out of Birmingham where we see strong potential growth in transatlantic and holiday destination flights."

A spokesman for Birmingham Airport said: "We are confident that Primera Air has made this strategic decision for the longer-term success of its operation and we will continue to support the airline to successfully launch its new operation from Birmingham in May."

 

[Ianbutty]

Thanks smithy.

Jerry I agree. In the long run if sales are poor, better to pull out now and focus on the other routes and build from there. Boston would have been great but deep down there was always a question mark.

 

[IanFarquharson]

Just an excuse in my opinion, still convinced it is late aircraft deliveries

 

[Aceshigh]

Makes no sense. Ok BOS may have been a bridge too far but why start Newark in May daily THEN switch back to 4 in high season?

If the aircraft is available in May why not June?

Plus this is an A320 we are talking about not a 747, there simply has to be demand to fill this in June July from Birmingham.

In addition how do they propose to combime all the extra pax on the Stansted services , are they empty too ?

Bookings ex BHX must be ludicrously low if they can squeeze them onto STN flights OR they are significant and it's actually the STN flights that have bags of capacity.

Even Toronto has been put back.

It's a puzzle !

 

[Creguk]

I definitely agree. We had a daily 757 serving Newark and loads weren't too bad (were they!?). And now we can't fill an A320!

If tickets have been so poor, what is all the talk about two other transatlantic routes? If they can't make NYC work daily, or Boston...how will they make anything else?

 

[Jerry]

I definitely agree. We had a daily 757 serving Newark and loads weren't too bad (were they!?). And now we can't fill an A320!

If tickets have been so poor, what is all the talk about two other transatlantic routes? If they can't make NYC work daily, or Boston...how will they make anything else?

They said sales for NYC and Toronto were doing well. Boston had the poor sales.

 

[smithy108]

Issued today on Routes online, no other frequency or other changes reported at this stage to other routes , even if they are planned. They may be attempting some damage limitation and drip feed the formal announcements of the changes


Primera Air cancels Birmingham – Boston late-June 2018 launch
Posted 29 January 2018 05:00

Primera Air in recent inventory update has cancelled planned service launch on Birmingham – Boston route, previously scheduled to commence on 22JUN18. The airline originally planned to operate this route 4 times a week, with Airbus A321neo aircraft. No new launch date is scheduled at present time.

Previously planned schedule as follows.

PF053 BHX1715 – 2015BOS 321 x246
PF054 BOS2145 – 0930+1BHX 321 x246

 

[Creguk]

They said sales for NYC and Toronto were doing well. Boston had the poor sales.

But not well enough for daily flights as Newark reduces after May. Fingers crossed they get settled and then can increase in the near future.