Birmingham Airport’s newest carrier will launch direct low-cost services to New York, Toronto, Malaga, Barcelona, Palma and Crete, from May. It has also announced that fifty jobs have already been created in flight crew and operational positions and the airline plans to keep expanding from Birmingham.

Speaking at a business event today Anastasija Visnakova, Chief Commercial Officer, for Primera Air, said, “We are proud and excited to place Birmingham on our route map for 2018.

” With two transatlantic and four short-haul destinations we are opening our operations here and looking forward to further development of this Primera Air base. This is an important first step for us and significant development for Birmingham Airport and region. With the technology that our brand new fleet offers expensive transatlantic travel becomes a thing of history”.

The carrier will operate brand new Airbus A321 Neos, configured with 16 premium economy seats and 182 economy seats. These new-generation fuel-efficient aircraft are allowing airlines like Primera to fly on routes usually only accessed by wide-body jets, serving customers with low cost fares but a high-quality product and service. Passengers can also use Wi-Fi on board and the aircraft has full charging facilities for their devices.

There is much demand for transatlantic services from Birmingham. In the last year, the West Midlands exported £6.2 billion worth of goods to the USA, second only behind the South East, and exported £778.5 million to Canada, the highest of any region in the UK.

Chairman of Birmingham Airport, Tim Clarke, said, “Primera has seen the enormous opportunities available in the Midlands thanks to its strong trading and cultural links with the US and Canada, and the leisure travellers’ desire to escape to warmer Mediterranean climes. Primera is able to offer low fares due to its brand new fuel efficient Airbus A321 Neos which means that these services are accessible to all pockets – whether travelling on holiday, visiting loved ones or flying for business.”

Primera Air is also the partner airline for a three-year campaign working with Birmingham Airport, the West Midlands Growth Company, Shakespeare’s England, Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire and Visit Britain. Together, the organisations will market Birmingham and the surrounding areas to a global audience, convert inspiration to visit into bookings, and promote direct flights to the area.

Its first flights will be on the 14th May to Malaga and Palma, with New York launching on the 18th May and Toronto on the 23rd June. Crete will start on the 30th July and Barcelona on the 1st October. Flights will operate to New York four times weekly and to Toronto three times per week. Malaga, Palma and Barcelona will operate daily and Crete each Monday.