Email sent to all Primera Air Crew members

Dear colleagues,

It is with great regret I am reaching out to you all this dark day. We have just been informed that both Primera Air Nordic and Primera Air Scandinavia will file for bankruptcy tomorrow October 2, 2018.

Currently flights are operated as normally and OCC, Crewing and Travel are working on arranging travel home for crews who happen to be on outstations.

Reasons I am sure are many but very high cost for the aircraft with corrosion last year as well as the delays of our new Airbuses lead to too high costs for wet lease and cancellations which in the end became too much for the airlines. Our owner was working on securing financing but was not able to in the end. This is what was stated during today’s staff meeting in the Riga office.

All the staff in the Riga office have been informed but official information will not be sent out until midnight by our owner. I understand it is difficult but please keep this to yourself if you can until after the official notification from the owner. In fact, I am not even authorized to send this email but I think it is the right thing to do for all of you out there on the line. You deserve to know.

I will continue to be available on phone and email.

God knows it has not been without its challenges but thanks to all of you great colleagues it has been a real honour to be at the controls of the flight ops department the past 7 years. We got the permits, we flew the flights, we got good reviews from the passengers. In other words, we fulfilled our part of the mission. The financial and commercial aspects we could not influence.

Thank you all for the past years and take good care of you out there.


Best regards,

Anders Ludvigsson
Director Flight Operations
Primera Air





As the email states. It’s not official, and with aircraft still in the air it seems a bit strange, maybe they’ll figure something out.

For the sake of the employees, many of whom were made redundant this time last year, I pray something gets figured out.

Unofficial, but a really really bad sign.

The guy says he wasn't authorized to send the e-mail; probably should retract his name.

Quite strange indeed, but not surprising taking into account its recents events.

They had been lately rescheduling its network quite often. As far as I know, they were among the worst in what has to do with working conditions, so I truly hope all the staff and crews affected by this find somewhere else soon a better working prospect.

I hope this is not true. Primera has announced quite the shakeup for the TATL market and it will benefit passengers greatly, not to mention the tons of people that work there and may lose their jobs

WOW Air is next unless FI or AY decide to throw them a lifesaver.

Isn't this a fake e mail and a bad joke?

The wording is really odd for such a situation e.g "God knows" and some sentences even make no sense e.g "high cost for the aircraft with corrosion" ....

Also it seems weird they would shut down just after announcing new routes ex TXL and FRA.

PF047 from Stansted to IAD should have left Stansted at 15.55h (local) and it appears on the STN airport website as just "scheduled". PF041 to Newark should leave at 17.55h (local).

a350lover wrote:

PF047 from Stansted to IAD should have left Stansted at 15.55h (local) and it appears on the STN airport website as just "scheduled". PF041 to Newark should leave at 17.55h (local).

There are unconfirmed Reports that STN has impounded the PF aircraft currently on the ground there.

Welp...there goes that startup.

If they ran out of cash in September, that just seems particularly bad and they never even had a shot at making it through the winter.

Sad to hear but I never understood their business plan. Throwing more capacity at already very well served markets = profit? I guess they had to learn how silly that idea was the hard way.

Better dust off the HiFly A380 to bring all the stranded passengers home from the holiday resorts they flew to.

LupineChemist wrote:

Welp...there goes that startup.

If they ran out of cash in September, that just seems particularly bad and they never even had a shot at making it through the winter.

Not a start-up at all.

Apart from some hiccups they had some good product reviews esp on their new A321s. Shame.

Sad if this is true.

Who'll get the MAX orders now?

Come on folks once the new smell is gone you can not even pay the bills? Who approves these Business Plans?

LupineChemist wrote:

Welp...there goes that startup.

If they ran out of cash in September, that just seems particularly bad and they never even had a shot at making it through the winter.

Fair enough they were new to the TATL game but a startup they were not, I flew with them DUB-PMI-DUB in 2008 & 2009

usflyer msp wrote:

Sad to hear but I never understood their business plan. Throwing more capacity at already very well served markets = profit? I guess they had to learn how silly that idea was the hard way.

I feel the same way. They should have allowed there initial transatlantic routes to mature first at least especially with the lack of aircraft they had and delays with deliveries

I know crew who were training with the airline at STN and they’ve all be turned away as well as being sent this email.

LupineChemist wrote:

Welp...there goes that startup.

If they ran out of cash in September, that just seems particularly bad and they never even had a shot at making it through the winter.

Primera have been around a long time and JetX before that as well.

Good riddance. This company jumped from one country to another to find the lowest common denominator regulatory wise. The trail of court suits is long. I have personally known the CEO for a long time, and I know the owners track record. My description of them is not fit for print. I also know several ex Primera pilots. Not one of them has a good word for this company. Pilots working for them can only find better employment. I suspect same goes for most other staff except maybe office staff in Riga.

Media Coverage

On 1 October, at least one Primera Air Scandinavia Airbus A321 (OY-PAF) was impounded at Stansted Airport for unpaid airport charges. The aircraft was to operate flight PF41 to Newark.
https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/prim ... -tomorrow/

Well it’s a bit off a coincident that monarch went bankrupt a year ago today, Aslo the question now is who will buy 5 brand new a321neo aswell as 737max planes in order for next year aswell as upcoming slots at JFK

...and...
http://aeronauticsonline.com/primera-ai ... nsolvency/

now posted on their web site: https://primeraair.com/about-us/corpora ... perations/

Several things to me do not add up:
- why would the Director of Flight Ops (someone ranked quite high in such a small company) would leak such dramatic information, where he admitted to not be allowed to do so but asked to keep it secret?
- Primera Air being headquartered in Denmark, why would the Director of Flight Ops write an email in English?
- besides that letter that's been reposted by a few travel websites, there's no confirmation about a possible bankruptcy, and Primera Air website shows nothing of the sort.

Call me skeptical; but this story smells fishy.

Now, plenty of people on TripAdvisor complain about not receiving compensation as promised and as required by European laws. Maybe there's some truth to it?

So, as of now, it's nothing more than a rumor.

nope - here it is, posted on their web site: https://primeraair.com/about-us/corpora ... perations/

WayexTDI wrote:

Several things to me do not add up:
- why would the Director of Flight Ops (someone ranked quite high in such a small company) would leak such dramatic information, where he admitted to not be allowed to do so but asked to keep it secret?
- Primera Air being headquartered in Denmark, why would the Director of Flight Ops write an email in English?
- besides that letter that's been reposted by a few travel websites, there's no confirmation about a possible bankruptcy, and Primera Air website shows nothing of the sort.

Call me skeptical; but this story smells fishy.

Now, plenty of people on TripAdvisor complain about not receiving compensation as promised and as required by European laws. Maybe there's some truth to it?

So, as of now, it's nothing more than a rumor.

jasoncrh wrote:

nope - here it is, posted on their web site: https://primeraair.com/about-us/corpora ... perations/

WayexTDI wrote:

Several things to me do not add up:
- why would the Director of Flight Ops (someone ranked quite high in such a small company) would leak such dramatic information, where he admitted to not be allowed to do so but asked to keep it secret?
- Primera Air being headquartered in Denmark, why would the Director of Flight Ops write an email in English?
- besides that letter that's been reposted by a few travel websites, there's no confirmation about a possible bankruptcy, and Primera Air website shows nothing of the sort.

Call me skeptical; but this story smells fishy.

Now, plenty of people on TripAdvisor complain about not receiving compensation as promised and as required by European laws. Maybe there's some truth to it?

So, as of now, it's nothing more than a rumor.

Interesting, the timing of my response was bad then: I checked the website and it did not have that notice. Now it does.

Nevermind then.

Eurowingsa320 wrote:

Well it’s a bit off a coincident that monarch went bankrupt a year ago today, Aslo the question now is who will buy 5 brand new a321neo aswell as 737max planes in order for next year aswell as upcoming slots at JFK

I wouldn't think that lessors will have many problems placing latest generation narrow-body aircraft. I think all delivered A321neo's are the standard model. I will be interested to see who takes the LRs though - will they be used for LR type routes or as a regular A321neo? It will be an interesting test for the re-sale market of the LR.
I know EI have had some delays to their A321LR order - I don't know if this is from the Airbus or Aer Lingus end. They may be interested in having the first few aircraft sooner, in time for the launch of MSP, they are currently an LR/757 short as things stand. Primera had planned introduction to service for Q4 2018, How quickly cabin furnishings etc would be available, who knows.

Gone in a flash!

CarbonFibre wrote:

Who'll get the MAX orders now?

For the eight direct Boeing orders, slots will likely get offered to other airlines.

I have said this before another carrier adding capacity into already over crowed markets and basically giving seats away it's time to start looking beyond BOS and NYC where they can at least get a better fare where they will be the only player in town. Imagine FRA to BOS and JFK what can they expect to make in that market.

WayexTDI wrote:

Several things to me do not add up:
- why would the Director of Flight Ops (someone ranked quite high in such a small company) would leak such dramatic information, where he admitted to not be allowed to do so but asked to keep it secret?
- Primera Air being headquartered in Denmark, why would the Director of Flight Ops write an email in English?
- besides that letter that's been reposted by a few travel websites, there's no confirmation about a possible bankruptcy, and Primera Air website shows nothing of the sort.

The letter being in English was the least strange aspect of this whole thing. There wasn't really anything Danish about this company. The owners are Icelandic and it was nominally registered in Latvia and the staff was mostly of various eastern European nationalities. Very few of the intended audience of this letter would speak Danish.

Eurowingsa320 wrote:

Well it’s a bit off a coincident that monarch went bankrupt a year ago today

I don't think it's a coincidence at all. They both probably limped along thanks to the increased business during summer and finally crashed when that extra cash flow dried up.

https://primeraair.com/about-us/corpora ... perations/

Offically on their website.

Ryga wrote:

I know crew who were training with the airline at STN and they’ve all be turned away as well as being sent this email.

This is the saddest part, all of those staff made redundant.

What'll be interesting is to see where the A321s go. Who currently has NEOs with CFM engines that would want these?

Despite the relatively big of these break news, mainly because Primera was one of the bunch of low-cost airlines which had just entered the low cost transatlantic market with big plans, to put things into perspective cause I am a bit lost... what is current Primera Air fleet size? Apparently, the section "Scandinavia" had under its AOC 8 aicrafts, 5 A321LR (was launch customer!), and 3 737.

Under Primera Air Nordic, there are apparently another 7 Boeings 737, all leased.

Customers for its A321LR for sure are gonna show up soon...

WayexTDI wrote:

jasoncrh wrote:

nope - here it is, posted on their web site: https://primeraair.com/about-us/corpora ... perations/

WayexTDI wrote:

Several things to me do not add up:
- why would the Director of Flight Ops (someone ranked quite high in such a small company) would leak such dramatic information, where he admitted to not be allowed to do so but asked to keep it secret?
- Primera Air being headquartered in Denmark, why would the Director of Flight Ops write an email in English?
- besides that letter that's been reposted by a few travel websites, there's no confirmation about a possible bankruptcy, and Primera Air website shows nothing of the sort.

Call me skeptical; but this story smells fishy.

Now, plenty of people on TripAdvisor complain about not receiving compensation as promised and as required by European laws. Maybe there's some truth to it?

So, as of now, it's nothing more than a rumor.

Interesting, the timing of my response was bad then: I checked the website and it did not have that notice. Now it does.

Nevermind then.

Plus there's nothing fishy about sending out an email in english just because Primera Air is/was based in Denmark as there are probably many expats working there.

Well I hope we travellers who booked with them can get our money back because when Air Madrid shut down we, a family of 6, never saw 1 dime of the tickets we had booked with them to buenos aires

This airline would have been better off setting itself up at LGW or FRA and flying to places like PIT, PHL, CLE, CMH, CVG, DTW, BWI, CLT and the like 3 or 4 times a week rather than trying to break into BOS, YYZ and NYC that are already over crowded

Delta could jump for the earlier NEO slots

pdp wrote:

Ryga wrote:

I know crew who were training with the airline at STN and they’ve all be turned away as well as being sent this email.

This is the saddest part, all of those staff made redundant.

What'll be interesting is to see where the A321s go. Who currently has NEOs with CFM engines that would want these?

Thibault973 wrote:

Well I hope we travellers who booked with them can get our money back because when Air Madrid shut down we, a family of 6, never saw 1 dime of the tickets we had booked with them to buenos aires

That's because you didn't book with a travel company that has a financial protection system in place for it's clients.

MAH4546 correctly predicted this one. He said their transatlantic aspirations may not last a year.

klm617 wrote:

This airline would have been better off setting itself up at LGW or FRA and flying to places like PIT, PHL, CLE, CMH, CVG, DTW, BWI, CLT and the like 3 or 4 times a week rather than trying to break into BOS, YYZ and NYC that are already over crowded

Bankruptcy would have happened in July if they did that.

Perhaps this is also a warning to JetBlue to think very carefully with their TATL plans being touted about.

TC957 wrote:

Thibault973 wrote:

Well I hope we travellers who booked with them can get our money back because when Air Madrid shut down we, a family of 6, never saw 1 dime of the tickets we had booked with them to buenos aires

That's because you didn't book with a travel company that has a financial protection system in place for it's clients.

Booked directly on the airlines website like I always do

a350lover wrote:

Despite the relatively big of these break news, mainly because Primera was one of the bunch of low-cost airlines which had just entered the low cost transatlantic market with big plans, to put things into perspective cause I am a bit lost... what is current Primera Air fleet size? Apparently, the section "Scandinavia" had under its AOC 8 aicrafts, 5 A321LR (was launch customer!), and 3 737.

Under Primera Air Nordic, there are apparently another 7 Boeings 737, all leased.

Customers for its A321LR for sure are gonna show up soon...

I am sure for that. They also have another 737 MAX 9 on order which are/were due soon. I'll guess there are plenty of users who want them from the lessor.
According to wiki there are 18 on order, but I found on the Boeing website an order for 8, up to 20. https://www.boeing.com/commercial/custo ... order.page

Makes me wonder if they went down because of their TATL expansion. They have been flying for a few years on short haul "charter routes", and that seemed to work for them. Always thought their TATL expansion was kind of crazy.

adamh8297 wrote:

MAH4546 correctly predicted this one. He said their transatlantic aspirations may not last a year.

klm617 wrote:

This airline would have been better off setting itself up at LGW or FRA and flying to places like PIT, PHL, CLE, CMH, CVG, DTW, BWI, CLT and the like 3 or 4 times a week rather than trying to break into BOS, YYZ and NYC that are already over crowded

Bankruptcy would have happened in July if they did that.

How so at least they could have gotten a nice return on fares probably triple of what they were charging out of BOS, YYZ and NYC

B747forever wrote:

Makes me wonder if they went down because of their TATL expansion. They have been flying for a few years on short haul "charter routes", and that seemed to work for them. Always thought their TATL expansion was kind of crazy.

Must have been a major factor no doubt. Their TATL ambitions were a mess from the very beginning - not helped of course by the late A321LR deliveries.