Primera Air

[paul]

I certainly wouldn't book with them either ray

 

[andrew.clarkson]

Hi there Ray, I agree with you 100per cent. Who ever is to blame for this major ***Please Read Forum Terms of Service*** up, needs dealing with right now, buy either immediate suspension from their job until this has been fully investigated, then sacked with immediate affect and no second chance, this is a major embarrassment to the airport. If kehoes responsible for this, then I don't know what you could do. Even to think about that he gave notice last January 2017, then left in July 2017, is very suspicious... AndyC

 

[nbdm]

I definitely think there is a market from BHX - United lasted for many years and through 9/11.
One thing that could be hurting Primera though is the lack of connections over the pond (United have a hub in Newark and *A codesharing) coupled with no business offering, sadly a lot of business customers would just go up/down to LHR/MAN or over to AMS/DUB/CDG/FRA.

That leaves mainly budget conscious travellers who are likely to avoid Primera for the foreseeable if they are aware of this situation. Personally I'll give them another shot but that's it.

If they knew something wasn't right with Boston, their advertising should have been pulled and flights taken off sale.
And you don't tell your customers you're cancelling the flight just before you leave for the weekend
I still don't buy their response there weren't enough bookings, market research should have uncovered that?

I fear they have tried to run before they can walk from BHX.
Bravo to them for trying, however there are now potentially hundreds of customers having to make alternative arrangements most likely leaving them out of pocket.

 

[richard winterbourn]

There are so many holes in the story as it relates to Primera Air, it looks more like a Swiss cheese! If as they say transatlantic bookings are disappointing then that must have been evident from the start. So why then launch short-haul flights to Europe which are already heavily provided for by other airlines????

Also, forgive me if i am wrong, but has Primera Air as a company actually issued a general press release to the media to say exactly what precipitated their cutbacks at BHX.

When you are in a hole stop digging, don't make it any deeper..... Primera Air have a long long way to go before they have any credibility here in the Midlands.

 

[nbdm]

There are so many holes in the story as it relates to Primera Air, it looks more like a Swiss cheese! If as they say transatlantic bookings are disappointing then that must have been evident from the start. So why then launch short-haul flights to Europe which are already heavily provided for by other airlines????

Also, forgive me if i am wrong, but has Primera Air as a company actually issued a general press release to the media to say exactly what precipitated their cutbacks at BHX.

When you are in a hole stop digging, don't make it any deeper..... Primera Air have a long long way to go before they have any credibility here in the Midlands.

Totally agree.

As I said in a post a couple of weeks ago, the cynical side of me thinks they launched the short-haul flights to financially prop up the lost revenue from Boston and their other reductions.
I'll take my tinfoil hat off now...

 

[Brum X]

MAG Laughing all the way on this one

 

[Brum X]

And its also clear that one of those A321s wasnt going to be ready until late August so could not of operated some of the proposed routes that were all due to start by the end of June 2018 incl BHX-BOS.

Yes others on other forums are saying this is proof of poor loads on BHX-BOS and they will probably call me sour grapes, however im still sticking to my suspicious mind that politics is at play here.

 

[rollo]

Reminds me of that movie Gone in 60 Seconds.

They have lost trust and once you lose that you lose everything, not much more to be said really.

 

[IanFarquharson]

MAG Laughing all the way on this one

Yes makes me wonder about what deal was on the table at STN !

 

[Deleted member 8862]

Very sad news had been considering them for a US trip but not now.

Will most probably opt for EI via Dublin with pre clearance.

At least i know they will operate...

 

[andrew.clarkson]

Hi there Ray and all, just seen Primera Air advertising return in August 18 flights from London Stansted to Washington dc, what a joke it's turning into ahh...AndyC

 

[Coathanger16]

Trying to look at this as the optimist I always try to be:

So Primera find out they're not going to get enough aircraft on time to start their planned schedule. By the sounds of things they'll be short 1 aircraft so what do you do? Cut the route that had the weakest bookings - by no surprise BHX - BOS. That leaves 1 aircraft at BHX needing to operate 10 weekly flights, so you reduce the frequency of some services to fit with only having 1 aircraft. That then leaves you with 1 aircraft being free when it arrives in August, so you have two choices:

1) launch a service from BHX to another N.American destination. 1 of your routes their struggled to get sufficient bookings, even though that route would have operated over the peak summer and this new one wouldn't. I'd be rather cautious.

2) Move the aircraft to another base that has had decent bookings across all flights and launch a new destination from there.

Whilst my heart would have wanted the aircraft to stay at BHX, my brain says the best thing would be to do what Primera have done.

I know the last week has soured everyone's opinion of Primera (I was fuming when I found out they were launching IAD from STN effectively with an aircraft that was meant to be at BHX), but airlines don't come in and launch a network of this size and pull out the next year. Even Norwegian was around for a few years. At this point I think Primera will be back at BHX in 2019, perhaps even after a winter break, and unless people choose to fly with them they will leave and where will that leave BHX. After August, Primera will still have 4 more aircraft on order. Let's wait and see what they decide to do with those...

 

[thunderchild]

Yes others on other forums are saying this is proof of poor loads on BHX-BOS and they will probably call me sour grapes, however im still sticking to my suspicious mind that politics is at play here.

Yes I’ve seen posts from ‘others’ lol! While I don’t think BOS would have worked during the winter I don’t buy that it was pulled because of poor sales at this early stage. Once again a case of MAG being in a position of offer a better deal.

 

[Coathanger16]

Once again a case of MAG being in a position of offer a better deal.

Or BHX not offering a deal that suited Primera.....just like easyJet all over again.....

 

[IanFarquharson]

BHX should do a deal with Norwegian, another 788 tonight, that's three different ones in the past week. Come on Norwegian open a 788 base - it makes sense !

Orlando, Las Vegas etc

 

[Coathanger16]

BHX should do a deal with Norwegian, another 788 tonight, that's three different ones in the past week. Come on Norwegian open a 788 base - it makes sense !

Orlando, Las Vegas etc

If I've learnt anything since joining F4A its that BHX, airlines, & sense do not belong in the same sentence unless there is a negative in there!

 

[GliderPilot]

Norweigan must have horse blinkers on their 787's to not see the potential at BHX

 

[thunderchild]

Or BHX not offering a deal that suited Primera.....just like easyJet all over again.....

Maybe...we’ll never know what happens in the board room. I’ve seen negative posts again about BHX being an expensive airport to fly into but if that really is the case why do Ryanair operate from here? Why Wizz and Blue Air? Why is BHX the only U.K. route for Czech Airlines?

Whatever the issue with Primera it’s all interesting debate.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

I've found the news extremely disappointing, but am also shocked at the accusations against Primera Air and BHX.

Whilst the initial response of Primera Air regarding the cancellation of the BHX-BOS route was below professional, we have to look at the facts.
Primera Air offered flights (BHX-EWR daily, BHX-BOS 4 x weekly and BHX-YYZ 3 x weekly) initially at the same fares as those from STN.

Or BHX not offering a deal that suited Primera

This makes no sense. If Primera Air had not liked the deal they got from BHX, they would not have launched the services in the first place.
Surely, no one can argue against the efforts that both Primera and BHX have taken in marketing these routes. The fault, must therefore lay with the population of the West Midlands.
I can’t believe for a second that there would not have been the demand to fill these flights. Why then, are they selling below expectation?

Is it the continued myth that long haul isn’t possible from BHX?

Is the local population so used to travelling via other airports that it has become routine?

Whatever the reason, it isn’t Primera’s fault! They gave it a go and the local population failed to back them.

I think this brings us on to other issues, which BHX need to address.

The main, one being educating the local populace on the possibilities from BHX. First and foremost, the capabilities from the extended runway.
I know I’m biased, but I believe that one of the best ways to do this is to get people visiting BHX i.e. a decent viewing facility – just look at MAN.

Hopefully, a new CEO will soon be in place and the airports standing within the community will be addressed. The old adage ‘you have to speculate to accumulate’ still applies.

Kevin

 

[Ray Finkle]

Personally I think it's a little unfair to lay the blame totally on the good people of our region, for flights to the Costas maybe but for long haul I think the net needs to be cast further and wider.

Are we to expect travellers from Oxfordshire etc to turn away from multiple airlines, offering an array of direct destination with a choice of timings to suit and an option of premium product, frequent flyers etc only to choose an unknown airline with a fixed flight time, no frequent flyers and no onward connections? Could we expect those from Stoke etc to turn away from household names such as Virgin and Thomas Cook and choose an unknown airline with a fixed flight time, no frequent and no onward connections? Being in the middle of two well established long haul airports means it will always be a struggle to attract anyone outside the immediate catchment area and even some very close to BHX have just become accustomed to using LHR.

I am also sceptical about lack of bookings. The launch date is still 5 months away, plenty of time for more and as we know many travelling on business can book rather late. It was also taken off sale before January pay day which could be a peak time for those arranging 2018 trips?

I've read many articles over the years from people high up in airline and airport management and the common theme is that long haul routes can take several years to come to fruition. The sheer amount of work involved in due diligence alone means that it should be solid enough to at least be given a season to bed in. The way these are chopping and changing so early on seems amateurish at best.

They may be back with more in 2019 but their credibility is shot. How many people cancelled are regular travellers to the USA, people who would be key to making any route work? We'll never know but the battering they are still getting on social media does not make for good reading. If Thomas Cook cancelled a route due to aircraft issues they'd put out a statement, receive lots of complaints but still come back stronger as people trust them. Primera do not have that brand awareness and needed to gain trust from the start, sadly they've done the opposite.

All I know is that I wouldn't risk my money with them.