Primera Air

[richard winterbourn]

Every plane that is flown commercially must have a Certificate of Air Worthiness. It is a pity that in the case of Primera Air this rule does not also apply to the management of the airline.....

New transatlantic flights to be launched from Brussels? Talk about a brass neck....

 

[rollo]

Just read the twitter bit, going well then looks like a sure fire winner to me.

 

[GliderPilot]

Ahahhaa the comments, i didnt find one that wasnt a complaint

 

[Ashwo99]

Looks like primera are at it again, subbing some STN flights for a 737-800, which can’t go direct without a severe weight Penalty, what an absolute sham this airline is😆😆

 

[JENNYJET]

When a business enters into administration the vultures begin to circle alas with Monarch. I confess as someone with a lifelong interest in aviation, to never knowing about Primera but to learn of plans to go transatlantic with a fleet designed initially for shorthaul service I had to pour a whiskey to settle my nerves! If it was do-able I imagine the likes of RYANAIR will have done it. Sir Freddie Laker tried it but BA killed that off but at least he used A310 or DC-10 aircraft, comfortable widebody craft with more than enough range to enable diversion or weather incidents.

Now if Primera got hold of some spare A340 then I may well become interested

 

[Ray Finkle]

Looks like primera are at it again, subbing some STN flights for a 737-800, which can’t go direct without a severe weight Penalty, what an absolute sham this airline is😆😆

Going via KEF I believe which adds around 2 hours onto the journey apparently.

 

[Foxlimayankee]

What's better, a lengthy delay awaiting another aircraft or a 2 hour delay because of an en route stop?
Ryanair and Easyjet are sticking to what they are good at, short haul. Primera are serving a market where there is demand and trying something new, exactly what Norwegian are doing. Primera probably couldn't take on EZY/FR in the UK short haul market on a big scale. The A321neo isn't that much different than a 757 flying across the pond.
If they hadn't made such a hash of it at the start, I would imagine opinion of them would be completely different. Ultimately what they are doing some would say is the future of transatlantic travel.

 

[Jerry]

What messed up Primera was delivery delays and maybe an over ambitious programme to start with. Also limited aircraft and not being part of or in partnership with an alliance probably doesn't help them if they have to cancel flights. If you look at the big airlines they all have partners and big networks to get passengers where they want to go if something goes wrong, Norwegian have a big network and also possibly spare aircraft as well and the charter airlines just seem to shuffle things around and they also do have a fleet standby as well. Hopefullly as Primera's operation gets bigger they'll have more slack in their system to cope with delays and as well better a 2 hour stop in Iceland than a cancelled flight.

 

[rollo]

Looks like they've thrown the darts again and will start Berlin to New York, Boston and Toronto commencing June 19.

 

[Jerry]

Guessing they'll be using the A321NEOLR for that?

 

[BHX492]

Guessing they'll be using the A321NEOLR for that?

No it the 737 max 9

 

[smithy108]

The very same aircraft that are not due to be delivered until Spring 2019. Perhaps they have nailed on delivery dates from Boeing, otherwise the same issue will repeat itself if there is any slippage. Boeing have massive production schedule to delivery of Max variants, up to 57 per month in 2019 from current 52 pm. There are already noises that the supply chain is struggling to meet demand.
Very high risk strategy to repeat the same launch pattern in further bases in Brussels and now Berlin. While you cant fault the ambition, the execution of the plan to date has been awful and its hard to see how it can change. If they fail in further expansion, it has to move into the reckless category

 

[nwoody2001]

I am amazed the 737max has the range between berlin and NYC ... that's a range of 6,500km!

 

[Jerry]

I am amazed the 737max has the range between berlin and NYC ... that's a range of 6,500km!

Yeah I'm surprised by that as the 757s longest US flight is Newark to Frankfurt.

 

[Coathanger16]

I am amazed the 737max has the range between berlin and NYC ... that's a range of 6,500km!

I'm never quite sure how Airbus/Boeing come up with their range figures - a lot of it will depend on configuration. I would always take the published figures with a pinch of salt.

Berlin to:

JFK - 6385km
YYZ - 6498km
BOS - 6085km

All less than the publish 6570km range of the 737MAX9.

Just for reference, Perth to London is 14,499km whilst the published range of the 787-9 that Qantas use on that route is just 14,140km.

No it the 737 max 9

Is the 737 max also being used for Brussels?

 

[BHX492]

Is the 737 max also being used for Brussels?

Yeah it will

 

[Coathanger16]

Yeah it will

Can anything be read from the fact they haven't assigned the A321NEO's anywhere else besides London & Paris? How many do Stansted and CDG need for their operations?

 

[nwoody2001]

Primera Transatlantic Fleet

A321Neo = 6 (5 in service / 1 due in 2018)

A321NeoLR = 2 (0 in service / 2 due in 2018)

B737Max9 = 10 (0 in service / 10 due in 2019)

The airline also has options for a further 10x 737M units

Current commitments

Stansted = EWR, BOS, IAD and YYZ requiring 3x Based A321s

Paris CDG = EWR, BOS, YYZ and YUL requiring 2x Based A321s (YUL replaces BOS in NOV)

Brussels = EWR, BOS and YYZ requiring 2x based 737M

Berlin TXL = EWR, BOS and YYZ requiring 2x based 737M


So by this reckoning, a lot of option still left for primera….

 

[Jerry]

Primera Transatlantic Fleet

A321Neo = 6 (5 in service / 1 due in 2018)

A321NeoLR = 2 (0 in service / 2 due in 2018)

B737Max9 = 10 (0 in service / 10 due in 2019)

The airline also has options for a further 10x 737M units

Current commitments

Stansted = EWR, BOS, IAD and YYZ requiring 3x Based A321s

Paris CDG = EWR, BOS, YYZ and YUL requiring 2x Based A321s (YUL replaces BOS in NOV)

Brussels = EWR, BOS and YYZ requiring 2x based 737M

Berlin TXL = EWR, BOS and YYZ requiring 2x based 737M


So by this reckoning, a lot of option still left for primera….

Well they have launched from London, Brussels, Paris and Berlin. All cities that have good inbound tourism. I wouldn't be surprised if they go for Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, Madrid and Barcelona maybe not in that order but I'd say they'd be potential targets for them.

 

[58terminus]

I wouldn't be surprised if they go for Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, Madrid and Barcelona maybe not in that order but I'd say they'd be potential targets for them.

Why do the words "potential targets" when referring Primera worry me?