Nordic long-haul low-fare airline Primera Air has received the first Airbus A321neo in a special delivery event in Hamburg on April 16th. The aircraft has already made its first flights from Hamburg to Copenhagen and Billund before leaving to the UK where it soon will start operations to New York, Boston and Toronto.
Primera Air president Andri Már Ingólfsson: “We are witnessing changes in aviation as long-haul flights are becoming more available to everyone. This change is brought by the new narrow body aircraft as A321neo and we are proud to operate it on our transatlantic flights.” This is the first of three A321neos to be leased from GECAS in 2018. Primera Air will also lease a further five A321neos from other lessors, including two A321LRs, growing its fleet to eight aircrafts in 2018. Primera Air will be the launch operator of A321LR, which is a modification of A321neo with even more extended flight range.
The aircraft is powered by CFM Leap-1A engines that allows to reach flight range of 4,000 nm. A321neo will have a two class layout with 16 premium and 182 economy seats. Meanwhile, the A321LR will be delivered later this year and recently it already had its maiden flight. According to Airbus it will set a new flight record for single-aisle twin jets of 4,750 nm.
As previously announced, 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, Washington DC and Toronto this spring, along with new routes from
UK to Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Alicante, Barcelona and Chania. Within the next two years Primera Air plans to increase its presence on current bases and to add new transatlantic routes and bases as it has 20 new Boeing MAX9-ER on order.
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.
