Airline blames service halt on delay to new aircraft.
Birmingham Airport has been dealt a blow with the news that Primera Air will be temporarily suspending flights to New York and Toronto from 21st June.
The airline, which began flying to New York’s Newark airport from Birmingham last month, blames the suspension on the ongoing late delivery of its long-haul A321neo aircraft from Airbus and has confirmed that it plans to reinstate transatlantic services next year once the aircraft is available. They have assured passengers that this announcement does not affect their short haul services already in operation from Birmingham.
An airport spokesman said, “Since launching New York services last month, load factors have been positive, averaging 70%. This reinforces our knowledge that the demand for flights between Birmingham and North America is strong, with a market size already using Birmingham of more than 130,000 passengers.
We apologise to customers for the inconvenience but stress that this only affects Primera’s transatlantic flights and is a temporary measure until a new aircraft is available.”
The carrier is contacting all customers booked on services from the 21st June to give refunds or transfer onto other services. Flights to Toronto were due to start on the 26th June. Affected customers can contact Primera Air at [email protected] or call 0148 223 5180. If customers have pre-booked car parking from Birmingham, a full refund will be given by contacting [email protected].
